Kim Possible: Shadow Plays
by CelendilAU
Summary: Things seemed simple at Graduation, but changes in the months after have sundered Team Possible. As an old foe works to rebuild a broken hero, old allies struggle to hold the line. When the world watches the death of an icon, it's clear that shadows have made the first play in a game that could decide control of the world. But can they have planned for every... possibility?
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note:** Welcome to Kim Possible: Shadow Plays, a story that took root in another, abandoned idea about a year and a half ago. This first section is therefore quite old, and while I've given it a lot of polish, there's probably bits and pieces here that may or may not be as good as I want them, but if I don't push myself to publish, I never will (and no matter how long you polish a turd, it's still a turd, right? Just kidding, I don't think this is a turd. _Oh god I hope it isn't a turd!_ )

This fic will eventually be rated M. It includes mature themes, violence, character death(s), and sexual content (eventually).

Now, without further ado, on with the show!

 **Kim Possible: Shadow Plays.**

Global Justice HQ, USA.

The quiet shuffling of papers in the office was interrupted by the sound of a security seal being overridden from the outside, which triggered a warning alert tone that caused both occupants of the room to jump slightly in surprise.

"Doctor Director! You're going to want to see this, ma'am!"

Dr Elizabeth Director looked up as her secretary, Andrea Sesstant, pulled open the door to her office and barged in. Betty blinked in surprise, in the six years she had been her secretary, there had never been a single instance of Sesstant having _ever_ used her override to disable the security on that door. It was something that almost nobody had access or clearance to do, and the times it had happened had always been dire emergencies.

A sudden premonition of danger gripped her. _This can't be good_.

She dropped the report on active field operations in Europe that she'd been scanning through onto her desk and sent a curious glance at the author, who was sitting opposite her on the other side of the spartan desk.

Agent First Class Will Du had turned in his chair to give the secretary a dressing down for the interruption but he paused before a word passed his lips, halted by an arm on his shoulder.

He turned back to his boss and gave her a wary look, but he recognised the look on Dr Director's face as the secretary closed the door behind her.

"Intel just caught wind of this a moment ago, this is going out live right now," Sesstant told the pair in a rush, turning on one of the two large screens on the far wall of the office and tuning it to Global News Network. "They've found her!"

Dr Director frowned and looked at Will, who returned her blank look with his own, adding a shrug. A fresh tickle of fear settled into her stomach. "Found who?"

As the screen flicked to life, the banner scroll at the bottom of the screen was already in motion, and Betty's eyes widened in shock as she read the current text.

"... United Nations spy agency implicated in terror attack plots by teen heroine Kim Possible.."

"What the _fuck_?"

Betty's frowned at the unexpected curse from her senior field agent. Clamping down the urge to add a few choice curses of her own, she snapped an order to her secretary. "Trace this, make sure Intel and Ops are getting clean copies."

Sesstant nodded and ran from the room quickly.

Nobody had seen or heard a single thing from Kim Possible for nearly a year - she had effectively vanished from sight several months after the Lowardian attack, in the aftermath of an incident in Tokyo. Betty knew that Kim's parents still had a significant reward posted for any information about their daughter's whereabouts, and she had directed all GJ assets worldwide to report immediately any potential sighting of the teen.

 _She vanishes without a trace only to reappear now? What's going on?_

As her brain struggled to make sense of the situation, she noticed that her senior agent appeared to have gotten his initial surprise under control.

"Will, what are you thinking?" she asked.

"Well for starters, there's no real need to trace it," Will observed quietly, pulling a notebook from somewhere on his person and jotting down notes rapidly. "Unless that's a truly fantastic bit of set creation, she's on the steps in front of the Capitol.. and that looks like Senator Willard, Senator Roberts and Senator McCallum with her, which kinda points to it being the real deal."

"Three of our biggest critics in the Intelligence Oversight Committee," Betty said, without bothering to disguise the tone of disgust in her voice. "Want to bet this is going to be another witch hunt?"

Will snorted in response, and nodded his head in agreement with her assessment, then reached for the remote to turn the volume up.

"Thank you, Senator Willard, for that truly _flattering_ introduction," Kim was saying, looking out at what appeared to be a massive scrum of media, with camera flashes going off almost constantly, offsetting the din of dozens of shouted questions from the pack that had erupted the moment she had stepped up to the microphone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please... there will be plenty of time for questions at the end. If you'll allow me to read my prepared remarks, please."

"Prepared by who, I wonder?" Will asked sarcastically.

"I think I have a vague idea," Betty replied bitterly, looking at the Cheshire Cat-like smiles on the faces of the men behind her.

"As many of you probably know," Kim finally continued, as the crowd eventually settled. "For five years, beginning during my time at Middleton High School - go Mad Dogs! - I started conducting what were at first, simple missions to help people who needed it. Over time, however, the scope of that help changed and expanded - significantly. I began to run up against people who had the desire to hurt lots of people, as well as some who wanted to take over the world or hold it to ransom. People like Dr Dementor, Monkey Fist, and Duff Killigan, or the Seniors."

"I hope Drakken isn't watching, being left off that little list would hurt his feelings," Betty muttered. Will snorted, knowing Drakken was currently ensconced in a secure research base, his every whim being catered to with the exception of outside news access, which he probably didn't even notice given he was unlikely to be paying attention to anything other than his latest ridiculous prototype.

"Even after the Lowardian attacks convinced the _smarter_ of the more active or well known villains to retire, I kept my world saving heroics going against the holdouts, and the new threats that began to emerge to fill the power vacuum left behind, because it was the right thing to do." Kim paused, and looked around the assembled media again. "But it came at a price."

"During the early years of my career, I became aware of a covert group of secret police and spies known as Global Justice. As an arm of the United Nations, I assumed at the time that they were benign - at least as benign as a secretive world police force can be," she added to scattered laughter and, incredibly, ever broader smiles on the faces of the men standing behind her.

Betty suppressed a growl. Global Justice operated under extremely close supervision from the Security Council for good reason, and the safeguards they implemented were far stronger than anything the US foreign agencies had ever operated under - but it was the fact that they operated at all in the country at all without direct US Government oversight that upset some in Washington, including the three standing behind Kim Possible with Cheshire Cat grins.

"However, I soon discovered that Global Justice had a dark secret. They adhered to no national borders, and answered to no governments, and played by no _rules_. They were dangerous, but I didn't realise at the time because I'd allowed myself to be distracted by the careful front they presented, and I was conned into helping them with their own dirty laundry. The villain who called himself Gemini, the leader of the Worldwide Evil Empire, had managed to capture my friend and sidekick while Ron was working with Global Justice. It was at the resolution of that kidnapping that I discovered the shocking truth that Gemini and the leader of Global Justice, Dr Betty Director, were fraternal twins."

She paused and let the outcry of the media die down again before continuing. "Yes, that's right. Global Justice is run by a one-eyed megalomaniac who is solely and completely determined to one-up her insane sibling by any means necessary, regardless of the collateral damage to the world."

Betty Director couldn't stop the angry hiss that burst from her. "That... that _bitch_!" she snarled, surprising even herself with her anger. "And to think I once considered her a future candidate for Global Justice!"

Will said nothing in response to her outburst, his attention completely locked on the screen.

"I've chosen to go public with what I know now, because I recently discovered, with the help of several of my friends, that Global Justice is planning a series of bombings in major cities across Europe and America, using them to implicate WEE - and by extension Gemini - in a terrorist attack, then using the chaos and confusion caused by the attacks to usurp many of the national security agencies currently in place on both continents, for their own nefarious ends."

Dr Director found her jaw unable to move from where it had gaped wide open. This was unbelievable, it was utterly _inconceivable_.

The line from the Princess Bride about not knowing what that word meant popped into her head unwillingly, as she struggled to translate the words she'd just heard into some form of coherence, find some way of interpreting them that _made sense_.

"I know that by saying this publicly, I risk a lot of heat from Global Justice. I know they will try to silence me for revealing their devious plans to the world," Kim continued. "But I'm used to that - it's no big. This sitch is just like any other, and I've come to men in Washington I can trust," here she paused and indicated the three senators behind her with a wave of her arm. "Because like me, they are willing to fight for the right cause, to always do what is best for America and the world. Together, we will expose the threat of Global Justice and ensure the safety of everyone threatened by their treacherous and callous acts, because together, as my father says, 'Anything is Possible..'"

She never finished the sentence.

Without warning, a small ragged hole appeared in her forehead, and a splatter of red, white, and gray exploded over the people standing behind her.

The screams of the assembled press nearly drowned out the shouts of the Secret Service guards screaming "Sniper!" and diving to tackle their assigned principals as the _crack_ of a high powered rifle shot finally sounded, several seconds behind the bullet that had killed its target instantly.

As Betty watched on in wordless horror, two Secret Service agents were also hit with clearly fatal shots as they scrambled to cover the senators' bodies with their own and tried to hustle them out of the line of fire to safety. She saw several more agents grabbing the body of Kim Possible and retreating rapidly with it.

A moment later, the feed they were watching jarred sharply as the camera fell to the ground, and a body - probably that of the cameraman who had been carrying it - fell in front of it, his eyes open and glassy and part of the side of his head missing.

GNN finally chose that moment to cut the feed, back to their anchors at the news desk, both wide eyed and slack jawed in disbelief at what they'd just witnessed - and broadcast to the whole world.

Betty's mind spun in circles. Normally, she prided herself on her ability to think quickly, coolly, and logically in any crisis, but in this particular moment of madness, she found that all her years of training simply hadn't prepared her for such an impossible situation.

"We need to get moving, quickly." Will - his voice thick and choked with emotion - recovered first. "We have to get out of here before they send the army in to capture - or kill - us."

"What?" Betty asked, staring uncomprehendingly at her senior agent and the expression of shock still written plainly on his face.

"They're going to come after us," Will said slowly, rising to his feet and gathering his notepad and other effects. "They're going to think we just.. _assassinated_ Kim Possible."

"That's.. that's.."

"Absurd? Yes. I know. But you saw the same thing I did. The _whole world_ just saw Kim Possible accuse us of being terrorists planning to bomb cities around the world, and then seconds later be assassinated live on TV. I don't know why or how she was convinced to say what she said but it also _doesn't matter_ \- if we don't go, _right now_ , they'll be locking us up and throwing away the key - or _worse_ \- before nightfall. The US knows where this HQ is, and there's an Army base less than fifty miles from here. We have to get _out_ , we can't go down like that."

Betty's mind finally started making an effort to catch up to the situation facing them as the news banner changed to " _Kim Possible assassinated on Congress steps - Global Justice to blame_?"

"Running is going to make us look guilty," she protested weakly, her brain still spinning it's tyres, futilely trying to process the scenarios being laid out before her.

"We _already_ look guilty!" Will nearly shouted at his boss. "Whoever set this up did it brilliantly. We've already been instantly convicted by the court of public opinion. We need to initiate _Ghost_ protocols and get out of the US before it's too late."

Betty stared long and hard at the desk through the fingers she'd clasped loosely over her face. The fact that _Will Du_ , of all people, was advocating going rogue just wouldn't compute in her brain.

Then she realised that was the exact opposite of what he was advocating. The Ghost protocols were actually written for this kind of drastic situation. In an invasion of GJ by a hostile force or a subversion by means of mind control or blackmail, if the situation was unrecoverable, senior agents and anyone that they trusted completely were tasked with escaping the situation and then operating underground - metaphorically speaking, since the Global Justice North America HQ was already underground - and using any means necessary to identify and expunge the source of the threat, until normal operations could be restored.

This definitely counted as a drastic situation, Betty realised. She looked around the office, at the few personal items that marked it as _her_ office. A photo of her and an ex-President, a couple of pictures of her and her family - minus one particular member, of course - and the small model of the F4 Phantom that her father had flown in Vietnam.

She didn't feel right leaving it, but Will was right. If they didn't leave, there was no way they wouldn't be in jail - or worse - by the end of the night.

"You're right, of course," she sighed reluctantly, standing from her desk and sweeping the reports on the top into a pile. " _Ghost_ is a go. Make whatever preparations you need - and make them fast. I want you to take the time to scrub the Ops records - including this stuff - and try and get a communication to all our agents to let them… let them know that they're on their own and to do their best. If there's anyone you completely trust, give them a heads up, then exfiltrate and meet me at… meet at the Delta site as soon as possible."

Will nodded and saluted. "Good luck, ma'am."

"You too," Betty Director whispered as he left.

 **KP KP KP**

Nashville, USA.

Jack Hench leaned back in his chair, taking another sip of his whiskey - Japanese, 19 year old, just like his other favorite export from that country - and watched as multiple different news channels attempted to dissect - hah! - the big news of the day, the _only_ news of the day, really: the assassination of Kim Possible, on the steps of the Capitol building in Washington DC.

It seemed like there was an even split between those who believed the implication of Global Justice in the plot, and those who thought it was a villain seeking revenge for years of defeat, but that didn't particularly bother him.

After all, Jack knew the truth, and that truth was… whatever he wanted it to be.

His phone rang, surprising him momentarily, before he realised who the caller had to be - not many people had the ability to override his Do Not Disturb function, but this one… well, it paid to keep this one happy - at least for a little bit longer.

He lifted the receiver, waited for the tone that indicated a secure channel, and then spoke.

"Go."

"Jesus Christ Jack, what the fuck were you thinking? Did you have to make it so public? It scared me half to death! I could have been shot, too!"

Jack resisted the urge to snort, reminding himself that the bluster was probably the result of shock, having just seen the back of someone's head explode a meter in front of him.

"We only specified the target, not the method. That was left to the discretion of the contractor, and I think she held a bit of a grudge."

There was a long pause, while the other person contemplated that information.

"Fuck, what a psycho. Did you at least tell her we were off limits?"

"Of course not, that would have given her far too much information for later use."

Again, there was a long pause, and Jack began to wonder if it might be better to get rid of this loose end sooner rather than later, to prevent any possible second thoughts from getting in the way.

"Look, it had to be this way, okay?" he said soothingly. "She was told her target and to minimise additional casualties, but I'm guessing she wanted a bit more chaos to cover her exfiltration."

The caller seemed to accept that, heaving a sigh that sounded resigned rather than upset. "She knows how much, exactly?"

"The name of her target only," Jack said confidently. "She was contracted and paid through a double blind via a trusted third party. We're safe from any leaks on this end, and as long as you stick to the encrypted links I provided you and only use the phone I gave you in secure mode when you call me, you're safe as well. The NSA don't have the capabilities to break this encryption - nobody does."

"Can you be certain of that?"

"As certain as I can be about anything, sure," Jack replied, then made a mental note to talk to his technicians about improving that, just on the off chance someone had made advances he didn't know about yet.

It always paid to be ahead of the curve.

"Has your agent in place reported any movement yet?"

"Yes, I just got word that GJ are going dark. You can inform the President, and commence the launch of Phase 2 now."

"And the other players won't interfere?"

This time, Jack did snort.

"They're all either irrelevant or not on the board now. Nobody's seen the real target in a year, and the green bitch has been gone the last six months - the last place she was seen was Senior Island."

"I don't suppose we'd be lucky enough that those two fought each other to the death and somehow both won?"

Jack laughed out loud. Now _there_ was a pleasant thought. He allowed himself a momentary daydream of the two, locked in a fatal embrace, falling off the edge of a cliff, or into a volcano or something similar, then shook his head to rouse himself. "Hah! I doubt it, but it's a pleasant daydream. Keep your ears to the ground. Any sign of either, alert me and I'll set up the necessary welcoming committees."

"Fine. What about the others?"

"None of the others are worth mentioning, which was the whole point of this little arrangement. Neither of us can afford things to continue to be this quiet right now. Once we've secured the assets and appropriate arrangements for their… deployment.. have been made, we'll be just fine."

"And the loose ends in DC?"

"Leave them to me, I have a few ideas about twisting the knife if things don't go as planned in Phase 2."

"You're not confident the forces you gave me can do the job?"

"Let's just say that it always pay to have a backup plan or two or ten when playing this side of the game. I learnt that the hard way on more than one occasion," Jack said.

"I'll take your word for it."

"Just stick to the script, Senator, stick to the script and the schedule; this will go exactly as planned, then both of us will be rich beyond our wildest dreams and even more powerful than that," Jack lied smoothly.

"I don't know, Jack, I can dream pretty big."

"Trust me," Jack told him. "I know exactly what I'm doing."

He disconnected, then dialled another number.

"Everything went exactly as predicted," he said. "The Senator's just about set the ball rolling, and I'm passing on the required information for Level 2 to our 'friend' now."

There was a long silence on the other end.

"Good. we calculate a 98% chance you will need to resort to the second level permutations on the Director task. Also, there is a message for you."

After a slight pause, there was a faint click and another voice came over the line. Jack paled when he recognised it.

"Jack, my boy, just a word to the wise. Don't fuck this up, or you'll find yourself playing your last hand much sooner than you might have planned. We'll be watching."

The call disconnected, and Jack was left staring at the wall of screens for a few moments, a discomfortable feeling settling into his gut, before he finally lowered the handset to the desk.

The whiskey in his glass suddenly wasn't quite as appealing as it had been ten minutes ago.

 **KP KP KP**

Sydney, Australia.

"Hey sleepyhead, that's a neat trick, you're in two places at once!" a voice called out from the lounge room of a large hotel suite overlooking the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the bright sunshine of the morning streaming in.

"What?" another voice floated back, a note of confusion in the female voice.

"I said you're in two places at once, unless they're playing a recorded speech you did on the Hill?" the first voice said, loud at first but lowering as the apparent magician made an appearance from the master bedroom.

"I have no idea what you're talking ab-" The voice trailed off and the figure shook her head in bemusement, setting her short, bleached blonde hair shaking around her. "Okay, that is mega ultra weird," Kim Possible said softly, reaching down to grab the remote from the hand that held it to turn the volume up.

 _"... because together, as my father says, 'Anything is Possible...'"_

Two sets of eyes watched in complete shock as the death of Kim Possible played out in front of them, exactly the same that it did for Betty Director and Will Du.

Kim found that she was shaking uncontrollably by the time the footage suddenly cut out, and barely noticed when the hand that had originally held the remote - long since dropped from her own to the floor and completely forgotten - grasped hers gently but insistently.

She eventually realised her companion was asking her a question - had asked several times without her even hearing it.. "Kimmie.. Kim… are you okay, Kim?"

Kim stared at the images - frozen on the screen or frozen in her brain, she couldn't tell which - and felt her mind spin out of control. She moaned at the pain that suddenly bloomed in her brain, and the tightness in her chest, like her ribs were suddenly made of iron bars instead of bone. The thought that slowly rose to the top and began to dominate her entire existence was a three word phrase that raced through her mind.

 _That could have been me. That could have been me. That could have been_ _ **me**_ _!_

The universe around her slowed, she couldn't hear her own breathing or feel her pulse, there was nothing but those five words, over and over and over in an unceasing cascade.

She wasn't aware of her balance wavering, or Shego lunging up from the couch to catch her before she fell through the glass coffee table in front of her, or the way the other woman rolled in mid-air to take the brunt of the impact of their utterly graceless fall to the floor.

She wasn't aware of anything for a long time.

 **KP KP KP**


	2. Chapter 2

**Standard Disclaimer:** The various characters from the Kim Possible series are all owned by Disney. All registered trade names property of their respective owners. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

* * *

 **Kim Possible: Shadow Plays**

 **Chapter Two.**

 _Six months ago..._

 _Sydney, Australia._

In a filthy alleyway, a shadow crept slowly toward a pile of what looked at first glance like nothing more than garbage, carelessly tossed out of sight and out of mind, but on a closer look the pile was vaguely humanoid in shape and the top was slowly rising and falling, in time with the breathing of the person lying underneath.

"Holy shit, Princess. I always thought it was an empty boast, but you really _can_ do anything.. including lose it completely."

The person shaped lump in the pile of cardboard and blankets made a sound that was combination groan of pain and growl of frustration, then rolled away from the shadow that had spoken.

"I know it's you," the shadow continued, in an amused voice. "It took me long enough to find you, once you went off grid, but you were always leaving someone like me _just_ enough breadcrumbs.. just enough to eventually track you down and find you here."

The figure eased forward half a step, and paused, then raised a contemplative hand to her face and stroked her chin. "Almost as if.. You _wanted_ me here. Is that it, Cupcake?"

"Don't know the fuck you're on about," the form in the muck eventually muttered. "Who th' hell are you?"

"Cut the bullshit, _Kim_. You know _exactly_ who I am, and while I imagine I'm probably the last - well, maybe second or possibly even third last these days - person you want to see right now, that's just too bad. I was hired to find you, and found you I have, now the sooner you get the hell out of the rubbish, the sooner we can get the hell out of here and back to civil-"

The shadow broke off in shock as the lying form sat up slowly, shedding the coverings that had hidden her head and upper body from view. The moment stretched out into a second, then slowly became a full minute before the hunter slipped fully out of the shadows and crept closer to the mangled looking body in front of her.

"Jesus Christ, Kim," Shego whispered. "What the hell have you done to yourself?"

There was a brief, guttural bark of laughter that was so cold it sent unwelcome tendrils of fear running down her spine.

"I survived," Kim Possible whispered. "Despite my best attempt otherwise."

KP KP KP

"Like I already freaking told you, Nerdlinger, I found her, but it was rougher than we expected. Now transfer the goddamned money you promised already before I do something _stupid_ that'll just piss the Aussie cops off and get me back in trouble again."

"And I told you, until I see Kim safe and well, you don't get a damn cent." Wade Load crossed his arms for emphasis, and scowled out of the miniature screen on the Kimmunicator that Shego had been carrying the length of her search for the missing teen.

Shego fought down the urge to snarl angrily and threaten him with a plasma enema, well aware it would do no good for a number of reasons - not least of which was she wasn't sure where he lived, although she was relatively certain it wasn't somewhere in her current hemisphere - and gave herself a ten count of steady, slow breaths. _Focus on the money_ , she told herself.

"What if.. she doesn't want to see you?" Shego said eventually. "Look, I've got no reason to lie to you, I said I would find her and I did, but because of my.. ah.. unique financial situation.."

"You mean because Global Justice are still sorting through everything you gave them as one of the conditions of your so-called _pardon_." He didn't bother disguising the fact that he was still unhappy with them getting off almost scot-free… even though it was the only reason she'd even been able to consider agreeing to help him.

Shego ground her teeth. She didn't like being reminded of her recent status change - not because she was unhappy to be off most of the 'Most Wanted' lists around the world, but the surrender of much of her wealth - even the legitimately earned stuff - had been a condition GJ had applied to her and Drakken prior to the pardon.

"Yes. Because of that... I don't have any more operating capital. And I'm going to need it, trust me."

"And how do I know you're not just relaxing on Bondi beach sucking up mai tais and watching the boys on the beach?"

Shego blinked. "Uhh, because a little thing called PROFESSIONAL COURTESY?" she nearly shouted. "Look, you hired me to do a damned job. I'm _doing_ the job. To _complete_ the job... I. Need. More. Money. End of story. Now are you going to give me the goddamned-"

Shego stopped talking for the second time in a few hours as the damp, still dirty and very much downtrodden form of Kim Possible stumbled into the bedroom and collapsed into the chair across where Shego was currently sitting on the bed.

"Hey Wade," she said tonelessly. "If Shego says she needs the money, she probably does need the money. This place she's rented is a dive."

"Kim?!" Wade's voice shot up nearly an octave, thanks to the unbeatable combination of shock and puberty. "Is.. is it really you?"

"I dunno, Wade, you tell me."

A remote fibre optic cable suddenly extended from the top of the Kimmunicator but before it could swivel around to find her, a gloved hand snapped shut on it in a vice grip.

"Uhh, are you sure that's a good idea, Princess?" Shego asked softly, her other hand covering the microphone on the device. "I.. uh.. didn't tell him how bad you were... are.. I mean, I implied a bit but I didn't flat out.."

She paused at the blank look on Kim's face.

"You know," Shego said uneasily, nodding in her general direction and then shrugging. "Wasn't sure if you wanted anyone - anyone else, that is - to see you like this."

Kim broke eye contact to stare down at her hands in her lap, then gave the slightest of shrugs. "What does it matter?" she asked eventually. "I don't care if he knows."

Shego gave the younger woman a searching look, but Kim refused to meet her eyes again. Eventually, she gave an exasperated sigh and shrugged, pulling her hand off the mic and glancing down at the screen at the image of Wade, who once again had his arms crossed impatiently.

"Look... Wade..." Shego said, hesitating momentarily, still holding the fibre optic camera still and pointed up at her face. "Brace yourself, okay? She's not exactly.. at her best, you know?"

Wade's eyes narrowed.

"Oh for fucks sake! No I did NOT do this to her, she was _like_ this when I found her in a _pile of rags and cardboard_."

His eyes blinked wide as Shego released his camera, then it panned around to focus on Kim.

"Holy shit," he breathed as he took in the battered form that had once been teen heroine Kim Possible.

Her hair, once long and a lustrous red, was short, matted and an ugly brown - a combination of mud and dirt that had caked in. The clothes - or more accurately rags - she wore were full of holes and were somehow filthier than her hair, and they did little to hide the fact that her once fit and athletic form was undernourished and gaunt.

Her arms were thin twigs, and the left wasn't sitting right in its socket, most likely the result of a dislocation that hadn't been properly treated. The wrist on the same arm was crooked, whether from a bad sprain or untreated break, she couldn't tell. Her legs were almost as thin as her arms, and one ankle had clearly been broken and had also set badly.

All of that was superficial, though; even the broken nose and corresponding black eyes which combined for an almost ghoulish appearance, an effect that was only accentuated by the various scars that ran up and down her body.

What was most painfully obvious to Wade, what Shego had spotted the second Kim had shed the trash covering her, was the broken spirit behind the dull green eyes that stared at the camera, unblinking for several long seconds.

"Turn the camera off, Wade," Shego ordered. "Now."

There was a brief hiccup as Wade tried to regain control of his emotions, and succeeded - mostly - and then the camera retracted into its housing.

"The mon.." Wade's voice cracked, and he coughed softly to clear his throat. "The money will be in your account in a minute. All of it, every single penny I promised. More if you need it," he whispered. "Just.. please.. can you help her?"

Shego looked over at Kim, who was staring down at her lap again, pretending not to hear the pain that was obvious in the voice of her former webmaster and mission support. For a brief second, a small inner voice told her they were too late, that Kim Possible was already dead - her body was just taking the long way there.

 _No!_ Something deep inside her rebelled at the thought.

There were _very_ few people in the world Shego respected on any level - once upon a time, she had been able to count the number on the fingers of one hand with a spare or two.

The list was still short - her very first sifu, from the months after her stupid brother had ruined her life. One or two doctors ( _not_ named Drakken) who she trusted with some of the secrets of her body and her abilities - and by extension, some of the secrets of the two brothers she still (sort of) cared about. Senior Senior Sr - as long as he remembered to keep his hands off her - had eventually earned her respect for his commitment to a certain style of villainy - though his deep pockets contributed.

As much as she didn't want to admit it, Betty Director had earned her grudging respect for her dogged pursuit in the years prior to the invasion (despite how annoying it had been at the times) and her pragmatic decision to offer Shego and Drakken an amnesty in the chaos and aftermath had caused the Global Justice director to rise somewhat further in her eyes.

But looking at Kim now and somehow not seeing her current self, but the one she was far more familiar with, Shego couldn't deny the truth: at some point through the years of their encounters, the annoying redhead who'd first showed up when she and her sidekick had interrupted Drakken's first stupid scheme for world domination, and been a constant presence ever since, had managed to join that select list of people she respected.

Shego blinked in surprise and paused for a second to analyse the startling realization.

She wasn't sure how it had happened. Kim was almost completely the opposite of everything Shego had ever been - the yin to her yang, if you wanted to be poetic. Shego hated the cheerleader's attitude, her pain in the ass interfering with almost every robbery and every plan, opinions on almost everything were guaranteed to be wildly incompatible (except for that _one damn time_ , a traitorous part of her mind reminded her), and their primary method of interaction for the past four years had been wailing on each other with fists and feet and plasma..

But there was definitely something there, Shego admitted to herself for the first time.

 _"See, you do care."_

Kim's voice, on the Lowardian ship. She'd told herself at the time, and again after the fact, in an vain attempt to rationalize her own actions, that Kim was wrong, that she was there for Drakken only.

But it wasn't the truth.

Once upon a time, when they'd first encountered each other, she would probably have been thrilled to find Kim beaten, broken and scarred, and taken full advantage of it. Twist the knife a little longer, get her kicks, and then put the teen out of her misery permanently. Now, seeing the redhead like this just sent a surge of anger through her.

 _She's supposed to be better than this. Better than_ me, Shego thought. _It's high time she was reminded of it._

She was _not_ going to let Kim Possible waste away like this.

"Count on it," she told Wade gruffly, then cut the connection.

She smirked at the filthy, injured redhead as she tucked the Kimmunicator away. "Alright Princess, rehab starts _today_. First we deal with your hair and your clothes and get you cleaned up so you don't smell like a sewer. Then we find a new place to stay - something a woman of my tastes is more accustomed to - while I work on a plan to get you better, however long that takes. And then, when you're healthy again…" She paused for dramatic effect. " _I'm going to kick your ass._ "

Kim's head shot up, a surprised look on her face. Shego felt the smirk on her face widen. Kim was probably - no, she was definitely going to hate her for this, but it was what needed to be done, and Shego had always prided herself on being practical… this was no different, she told herself, ignoring the other implications of her sudden change of attitude toward the girl that hovered in the back of her mind.

No, they would never be _friends_... but sometimes a rival was far more useful.

"I'm going to kick your ass for letting yourself fall so far, I'm going to kick your ass for not asking for help from anyone, I'm going to kick your ass for being such a little goody-two-shoes, I'm going to kick your ass for all the times you annoyed me and all the times you _will_ annoy me, but most of all…"

She leaned forward and whispered, almost conspiratorially, into the shocked redhead's ear.

"I'm going to kick your ass cause it'll be _fun_."

She sat back, basked in the look of utter disbelief on Kim's face, then clapped her hands like a coach prepping a team for drills. "Let's get to work!"

 **KP KP KP**

 _HenchCo HQ, Nashville._

Jack Hench stopped dead in shock as he opened the door back to his office from his executive washroom. Somebody was sitting in _his_ chair, smoking one of _his_ expensive Cuban cigars, and drinking _his_ whiskey.

Unfortunately, that person had spun the chair around to stare out of the top floor office overlooking the city of Nashville, and that meant Jack didn't yet have a name for the dead man.

He reached for the call button he kept on his person to summon security - _security that should have stopped this interloper from having ever reached his inner sanctum in the first place._ As his brain caught up with his anger, his eyes narrowed and the remote stayed stubbornly dark despite his repeated clicks.

 _Shit_ , he thought, and groaned softly.

"Discovered the remote isn't working, I take it?" a familiar voice said, a taunting tone in it.

Jack felt his jaw unwilling drop open, and he gaped as the chair spun to reveal-

"Vinnie Walker?"

"Jack, my friend, it is so good to see you." Vinnie smoothed down his suit and straightened his purple tie as he stood from the desk, dabbed the cigar in the ashtray on Jack's desk, and took a sip of the whiskey.

"What the hell are you doing in my office, Wheeler?" Jack demanded, slamming his finger again on the security call button.

"Oh, don't bother trying to call security," Wheeler said with a smile, pulling out what looked vaguely like an over-sized cell phone from the late eighties. "You see, I've taken the liberty of holding your calls - all of them." He gently placed the device on the desk.

Jack blinked, then recognized the HenchCo Model 404 Signal Interference Device. _But.._

"Yes, before you ask the obvious question, I had to do a _teeny tiny_ bit of modification to get it to work on your own system, given that you obviously had it built with protection against it being used here - smart, but ultimately pointless, unfortunately for you."

Jack fumed.

"Why don't you go and take a seat, Jack, and we'll have a chat."

The ignominy of being told to take a seat, in his own office, by someone standing at his own desk, sent a spark of rage through him, but before he could take a single step towards Wheeler, to turn the vision of his fingers wrapped around the slimy weasel's throat into a reality, there was a soft click of a safety being flicked, and a very large caliber pistol was pointed at his left eye.

Jack froze for a second, and the moment became long enough for him to note that the gun was _not_ wavering in the slightest.

"Jack, please. Don't make me do something that we'll both regret. Well, I'll regret, you'll be dead."

He drew in a shuddering breath as his body clenched tight in an effort to rein in his anger, then slowly, ever so slowly, he sank into the one of the somewhat comfortable chairs on the wrong side of the desk.

The pistol disappeared, and Wheeler sat, a wide smile back on his face. "Smart man. Now, can I offer you a drink? Your collection is excellent, by the way. No? Pity. I'll just top myself up…"

Watching more of his favorite whiskey being poured into the glass Wheeler was holding threatened to reignite Jack's rage, but the memory of the rapidly appearing pistol, and the steely determination in the hand holding it and the eyes behind it kept him seated.

"Jack, I'm sorry this had to get off on the wrong foot today," Wheeler started. "I really do just need to have a bit of a chat. Can we do that, businessman to businessman?"

"What do you want, Wheeler?" Jack ground out.

"I guess not. Fine. Have it your way."

Wheeler leaned back in the chair, took another sip of the whiskey, then set the glass down and leaned forward again, locking eyes.

"HenchCo is six months away from total collapse," he said without preamble. "Now, before you raise the standard objections to that, I'll take the time to point out that not only am I sitting in your office, having read your latest reports, I've had access to pretty much all your financial data for a while now, and frankly, I think I've been getting more accurate reports than you have."

Jack had blinked at the blunt assessment. It wasn't totally different from something his heads of finance and accounting had told him a few months ago, but they'd been… rather more generous with the time frame.

"Six months?" he asked quietly.

"Yes, I know that Roger and Anthony told you eighteen months, but that was an extremely optimistic assessment and required a large number of bits of good fortune that just haven't gone your way in the last six months. Not the least of which has been the general drop off in client activity."

Jack nodded slowly. Wheeler was right in that regard, at least. In the six months since the Lowardian attack had been comprehensively stopped by Kim Possible and - he still couldn't quite believe it - Drakken and Shego, there had been a marked drop in the number of Hench hires, the number of equipment purchases, and the number of lair construction orders.

Sure, there had been one or two new players make their way on to the scene, but they were all currently nothing more than beginner villains, and none had remotely near the capital to make orders of the size that HenchCo was used to getting on a semi-regular basis from the major villains like Drakken, Dementor, Killigan, or Senior Sr.

"So, not only do you have a downturn in the business thanks to the whole alien business, you also have a pair of your biggest customers going legit - at least in the short term - I never would have figured that Demenz would take that research job the Germans offered him - anyway, you're in serious trouble Jack, and that's why I'm here."

"You think I'm not aware of the problems, and that I don't have plans to deal with them?"

Wheeler shrugged. "I don't really care, to be totally honest, because here's the big scoop of the day, Jack: the Friendly Friendly Bank and Trust board are about this far -" Wheeler paused, and held up his hand with his forefinger about half an inch from his thumb, "this far from taking the company from you."

Jack froze again, this time in shock. FFBT couldn't… he had been keeping track of who had interests in the company and…

"The Russian deal," he whispered finally.

Wheeler grinned smugly. "The Russian deal. You didn't do more than basic checking, did you Jack? If you had, you might - I stress might - have discovered that they were being advised, secretly, by yours truly, on behalf of FFBT, in an attempt to gain enough voting stock to get rid of you at the next AGM."

Jack swore, paused, and then swore a bunch more times for good measure.

"You done?" Wheeler asked after a minute of almost constant expletives. "Because I didn't say that I was here to call it all in, did I?"

Jack's eyebrows rose. "Why are you here, then?"

"I'm here because I'd rather not see HenchCo go under, I'd rather see it _thrive_ , and be a part of the reason why."

Jack snorted. Vinnie Wheeler was many things, but altruistic was definitely _not_ one of them.

"Oh yeah, and I want to be filthy rich again, like when I suckered the Seniors into giving me the lot. If that meddling little redheaded brat hadn't screwed me over in the end, I wouldn't have ended up having to drudge through twelve months of that farce of a RICO trial, and I wouldn't have been a shitkicker at FFBT for the last… ugh, too long to mention."

He spread his hands wide. "Both of us have reason to hate the bitch, so.. I thought, maybe we could do something about her, and save the company at the same time."

Wheeler's eyes had taken a slightly maniacal gleam at the mention of Kim Possible, but Jack had news that he suspected Wheeler wasn't privy to.

"She's missing," Jack told him.

"Who?"

"Possible. I found out last week, that she's been missing for almost five months. Global Justice have kept it very quiet but I found out last week that there's a reward for information leading to her - not a small sum, either, if you weren't me."

This time it was Wheeler who swore, but he swiftly recovered his poise. "Well.. no matter. She was only ever a secondary concern - well, if she were active she might rate slightly higher, but only because she'd need to be eliminated before we made our move." He paused, and a wide, vicious smile formed on his face. "Actually, **Jack,** this might work in our favor."

Jack stroked his chin, pondering Wheeler's words. "How, exactly, did you plan on turning around the company's fortunes?"

"I'm so glad you asked," Wheeler replied, smirking.

 **KP KP KP**

 _Middleton, USA._

"Miss Rockwaller? I was hoping I might have a word with you."

Bonnie Rockwaller glanced up from her coffee at the woman who'd sat down opposite her. She recognized the woman instantly, mostly because of the patch she had over one eye, but also the general air that matched perfectly the description of the woman that she'd acquired recently.

"Ah, I see Senior Sr has told you about me," Dr Director said, reading her reaction.

"Not exactly," Bonnie replied evenly.

"Oh?"

"I read about you in his files, actually. There's not actually a lot there, Dr Director, just a name, and who you work for, and some comments about your interactions with Kim Possible." Bonnie almost spat the name.

"And I'm to believe he just let you access his files?"

"Let's just say that Junior isn't very good with computers - he's always forgetting his password so he writes it down in the back cover of his diary."

"Junior happens to let you read his diary?" Dr Director asked, raising a disbelieving eyebrow.

Bonnie laughed. "Of course not, he keeps it locked away in a box in a locked drawer in his locked office."

She stared evenly at Dr Director, who seemed to be struggling to process that.

"Allow me to save you the trouble and tell you plainly: I sneak into his office when he's sunbathing or in the gym, and check to make sure that idiot hasn't been chasing the tails of the European bimbos he used to like. Yes, I'm jealous, I won't deny it, but Junior is… well, Junior. Finding his passwords for the Senior Island systems was just a bonus, as far as I'm concerned."

Dr Director blinked in surprise. This was not how she'd expected this conversation to begin at all.

"So what can I do for Global Justice today?" Bonnie asked, and the angry jealous streak she'd exhibited at the merest implication of Senor Senior Junior being unfaithful was gone as quickly as it had appeared.

 _Dangerous, this one,_ Dr Director thought, reevaluating her initial impressions of the brunette. _She's not the innocent schoolgirl she acts like sometimes. She has claws. How did our Intel group miss this? They claimed she was nothing special, just a minor high school prima donna that had Kim in her sights for a few years, who somehow caught the eye of Senor Senior, Jr..._

She shrugged mentally and decided to see if she could turn this new information to her own advantage. "Well since you know who I am and who I work for, why don't you tell me what you've worked out. What do you think I want from you?" she asked.

"Well, I imagine most people would assume that you would want me to spy on Senior for you," Bonnie started, then paused and cocked her head to the side. The impression of being examined in far more detail than she found immediately comfortable washed over Betty. _Is she checking me out?_ Bonnie shook her head and continued. "No, that would be too simple and besides, you've got an agent already on the island."

Betty fought to control her face and thanked her years of playing poker with the other agents in the various organisations she'd worked for, as she struggled to give away nothing under the intense stare of the teal-colored eyes.

Bonnie Rockwaller watched on with a preternatural calm. "Good poker face," she said eventually. "But I'm not bluffing and you know it. Relax - Senior knows about the cook, but likes the food too much to fire her, so he's careful to only feed her minor things - or occasionally plant a little bit of creative misinformation, should there be a requirement for it."

Betty narrowed her eyes. "Why would you tell me that - _if_ it were true that I had an agent in the Seniors' employ."

Bonnie snorted delicately, then took a sip of her coffee. "To prove I know what the fuck I'm talking about, of course. That I'm just as capable of playing the game."

Betty leaned back and nodded slowly, her respect for the teenager growing further. "Okay. You were guessing what I wanted from you," she prompted.

"You don't want me to spy on Senior, you want me to keep an eye on Junior, because you think Senior is going to retire soon, and you're not actually that sure how much of a threat Junior could be if he was properly motivated. Oh, and you think that you're being clever by having several people sitting around here filming this - I presume for leverage against me, should I prove _difficult_ at a later date."

"I'm starting to think I'm worried about the wrong member of the household taking over from Senior," Betty said, and once again, she watched as the angry facade fell away from Bonnie - or maybe a new one went up, it was hard to tell.

"I don't know that you have to worry about that just yet," Bonnie said delicately. "After all, Senior isn't as close to retiring as you think. He's still getting a kick out of being the Honorable Villain, still practicing his evil laugh, and still working on reconciling the Evil Overlord List with his understanding of how to be a super villain."

"That's not exactly reassuring," Betty pointed out. She knew about the list, of course - it had originally been an in joke at Global Justice that had leaked out onto the early internet Bulletin Boards many years ago, and the attempt to cover it up by the then director had been one of the first instances to prove how laughable the concept of removing material from the internet was.

The leak of the list had led to serious worries of the list being actually utilized by semi-competent villains, but thankfully, it turned out that most villains weren't really genre savvy enough to acknowledge it (or perhaps they were too confident in their own ability to compensate for the common flaws the list highlighted, or were just downright too crazy to care), and as a result, most tended to ignore the advice the List offered, feeling it 'ruined the vibe' (or so Drakken had claimed, when quizzed about it at one point), for which Betty was grateful.

There were one or two, however...

"It wasn't meant to be," Bonnie said, interrupting her thought process. "But you want to make a deal… how's this sound: I keep a close eye on Junior if he ever succeeds Senior, and in return, GJ cuts us some slack."

Betty pondered that for a second. "I need something a little sweeter than that," she said eventually. "If you want an offer of limited immunity on the table, I need more."

Bonnie looked up into the sky momentarily, as if she was thinking about it. "Triple S is still a card carrying member of the Villains Association and regularly hosts get togethers with some of the more prominent members of the community, including the newer members. Any gossip I overhear is yours, once it's been appropriately washed to protect us."

Betty nodded. "Deal. Pleasure doing business with you, Miss Rockwaller. I look forward to a long and prosperous friendship."

"I'll do my best to ensure she upholds her end of the agreement like the magnificent player of the game she is destined to become," a smooth voice said, as an older man with white streaks in the hair at his temples sat down next to the teenager, smoothed his red jacket and tugged at his cravat. "It would be only proper, after all."

Betty's poker face failed her completely for the first time in years, and she gawked slack-jawed at Senor Senior Sr, who took Bonnie's left hand and raised it to his lips, brushing the back of the hand with a kiss.

He repeated the motion with Dr Director, who was thoroughly nonplussed.

"My dear Dr Director… may I call you Elizabeth?"

She nodded dumbly.

"Elizabeth, it is truly a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance in person."

"This is an unexpected pleasure, Senor Senior," she ground out, and the old man laughed.

"Please, call me Ricardo, at least while we are, how do they say… not on the clock? And I somehow do not entirely believe you feel pleased right at this point." He smiled, taking the sting out of the words. "I must be brief, so I apologize for being so blunt. This agreement that Miss Rockwaller has just negotiated with you - no, do not deny it, I heard the whole thing - as I said, I will assist her in upholding it. In addition, I will do my best to prepare my son for a lifestyle somewhat different to that I originally wished for him. For as much as I truly desire to spend my last years mentoring my dear Junior to follow in my own footsteps, it has become clear to me that will not happen. Alas, not every dream a parent has for their child can be fulfilled."

Dr Director narrowed her eyes.

"I expect your own parents might feel the same about you - and your brother." Senior added with a smile.

"Why?" she growled.

"If I am to be honest, the most recent newcomers to our grand game have none of the appropriate respect for the traditions we as proper villains should uphold, and I feel less kinship with them than I do with you, dear Elizabeth, or Kim Possible, my noble, heroic, and frequent opponent. Thus, I have no issue with providing select information on their activities, in return for your agreed upon… lenience, shall we say, to Junior and Miss Rockwaller, if future situations should conspire to force them to take certain actions?"

Dr Director looked from Bonnie to Senior Sr and back again. "He knows you've accessed his files," she said accusingly, as pieces started to fall into place. "And you knew he was going to be here when you came back to Middleton."

"I never said he didn't know, or that he wasn't anywhere near," Bonnie replied airily.

"No, it's bigger than that," Dr Director continued, almost as if she hadn't heard the response. She turned to Senior and narrowed her eyes again. "You're not going to be mentoring Junior because you've already decided to mentor Bonnie."

"I can neither confirm nor deny that suspicion," Senior replied with a sly wink.

"That changes the rules," Betty argued.

"Hardly," Senior and Bonnie both replied at the same time, and he smiled before waving a hand to invite the young woman to continue.

"The deal will stay the same, even if I decide to take up the generous offer my future father-in-law has made me," Bonnie said. "It just means that you'll tolerate the small things - the big ones, I'm sure will end up coming to a certain redhead's attention sooner or later, whenever she gets back - and I'll handle _her_ myself."

"I'm sure you will," Betty muttered under her breath. "Alright, fine, I believe I can live with that. It's not like it's the even the first time I've made a deal with the devil."

"I'm touched you think so highly of me," the teenager replied with a smirk. "It used to be only Kim and Ron who thought I kept company with Lucifer himself. If you'll forgive us, we really need to be getting back to the island, with a quick stop at a bulk pharmacy. If I know Junior, he'll be almost out of tanning lotion by now."

The young woman and her patron stood, and left the cafe, while Betty mentally reviewed the encounter from start to finish and tried to work out exactly why she felt she'd been played from before she'd even sat down.

 **KP KP KP**

* * *

 **Author's Notes** : Entirely flashbacks, this chapter. Six months ago, some big stuff happened (and this is itself, about six months after Graduation.) I wanted to give a bit of a hint as to why Kim and Shego were where they are in Chapter One. It'll be important shortly. Chapter Two also reveals more about Jack's mysterious phone call in Chapter One... and because it'll be important later, there's another that shows the first hints of a working relationship between Dr Director and some folks on the other side of the fence, so to speak.

Someone asked in a comment question whether Kim and Ron are together in this story. The answer is very definitively no, and the reason why.. well, I hope you'll keep reading and see. Someone else asked in a PM if this story was going to end up being a Kigo story - the answer to that is yes (and there goes a bunch of potential readers, I suppose), with a caveat: they won't be rushing into each others beds in a hurry. Trust me. There are much more important things coming up that everyone will have to deal with.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note:** Welcome to Chapter 3. Consequences of the events in Chapter 1 (and echoes of the events in Chapter 2) start to play out here. Please enjoy, and let me know what you think. (I'm a writer, we love _any and all_ feedback.)

 **Standard Disclaimer:** The various characters from the Kim Possible series are all owned by Disney. All registered trade names property of their respective owners. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

* * *

 **Kim Possible: Shadow Plays**

 **Chapter Three.**

 _US-Canada Border, Montana_.

Dr Director kept the hood of her dark green jacket pulled up over her head as she slid the window of her rented car down for the US customs agent at the border crossing. The fact that it was as cold inside the car as it was outside made it less suspicious and when the agent leaned down and felt no warmth coming from the open window, a sympathetic smile crossed his features.

Betty felt a certain smug satisfaction as her ploy worked perfectly, but kept it from showing on her face.

"Broken heater?" he asked with a tone of pity. She gave him an affirmative nod. "That's bad luck, it's been a cold week. Alright, just need your passport please, and confirmation of the reason for your trip.. you know, business or pleasure."

"Oh, pleasure, certainly," Betty smiled. "Joining a bunch of girlfriends up north for a hens weekend, only I don't fly very well so I'm driving there and back," she lied smoothly, handing over a passport with a picture that matched the black wig she had pulled on from her go bag.

The agent returned a few minutes later and handed her passport back to her. "You okay to drive with that?" the agent asked, nodding at her eye, which was currently hidden under a medical gauze patch taped to her forehead, and not it's usual black eye patch.

"Oh this? Yes, my doctor cleared me to drive as long as I was careful."

"What happened?"

 _Nosy bastard_ , she thought, but very carefully didn't say.

"Got a bit of something or other in behind a contact a few days ago, scratched the surface of the eye. I have to keep it watered and protected from the elements, but only for a few days."

"Ouch!" he said genially. "Should have stuck to glasses! Alright, you're good to go!"

He waved her through and she shook her head in a combination of disbelief and amusement.

 _The real story behind my eye would probably give you nightmares_ , she thought to herself as she approached the Canadian side.

Before she could get there, she noticed a commotion breaking out behind her in her rear view mirror, as several border guards burst out of the main building, and levelled weapons at her.

"Shit!" Betty swore as the first bullets pinged into the car, one shattering the rear window and embedding itself in the armored headrest behind her.

 _That was too close!_

She ducked her head as far as possible and slammed her foot down on the accelerator, speeding towards the Canadian checkpoint. The security bollards there slowly began to rise, but halfway up, they slid down again, and she sped through an open lane without a single glance at the agent who was positioned undercover in the Canadian Border Guards, and had been given warning of the arrival of a classified GJ asset via a coded SMS.

The agent hadn't known _who_ exactly had been coming through, only that an asset would require passage through the Canadian border checks without the normal interaction, and support once through. The agent had identified her car from the details in the second SMS she'd sent, as she'd approached the US side of the border, and they'd taken the initiative of sabotaging the security systems as she approached under fire.

Betty frowned briefly, knowing that the decision had probably burnt the agent, and it would result in repercussions, but also knowing well that the decision had been a necessary one - it had been the only option the agent had available.

She swore that she'd find a way to protect her agent, somehow.

Thinking of that agent turned her thoughts to the many others engaged in operations around the world - many of them deep undercover in various terrorist or villain groups. Will had been right, there had been no other option than to flee - his suspicion that the US would be closing in on them by nightfall had been confirmed by the sudden reaction of the border guards. She shuddered at the thought that some of her deep cover operatives around the world were almost certainly being left exposed and without any form support from Global Justice, but at the same time, she trusted in their professionalism and skill to keep them safe - as safe as they possibly could be - at least in the short term.

They would lose some good people, of that she had no doubt, and she would have to live with that guilt for the rest of her life, but she fervently hoped that she would be able to survive long enough to find whoever had set them up and bring them to justice, get the heat off of her surviving agents, and only _then_ turn her attention to returning GJ to the place she'd built it in her ten years in charge, from it's humble beginnings to one of the preeminent worldwide law enforcement agencies.

She knew, though, that the narrow minded fools in the US Government who resented her and GJ's somewhat meteoric rise would have free reign to tarnish her reputation while she worked in the shadows, and she feared that the damage might be too great by the time she was able to prove her innocence in the assassination of Kim Possible... _If only I knew why Kim had denounced us in front of the press! Who had convinced her we were a threat?_

She considered the facts as she knew them - what little there were - and all she could conclude was that Kim had been somehow manipulated into believing the worst of GJ with faked evidence. The only possible source for that was obvious. The Senators who'd been standing behind her when...

She felt her thoughts rebelling away from the horrific death of the young woman she'd openly admired, but she forced herself to stay with them.

The three Senators hadn't known Kim was about to be shot, that much was clear. Their reactions to the shooting were totally unrehearsed, and Betty had seen no indication that they had known what was about to happen to the young woman just feet in front of them.

But that didn't mean they weren't still involved. Perhaps… perhaps they had been working with another party, who had double crossed them and murdered Kim to throw her suspicion at the Senators?

Without sufficient evidence to make an informed guess, Betty could only ever speculate. She made a mental note to pay a covert visit to Senator Willard - soon. They'd butted heads many times in the past during hearings on Capitol Hill, and a reckoning was probably long overdue.. but it would have to wait. She had bigger concerns to deal with first.

Thirty miles past the border, she pulled off the side of the road and on to a specific service road, coasting a couple of hundred yards until she saw the marker she was looking for. She turned into a hidden alcove and pulled up across from a new car. Switching the engine off, she jumped out and moved quickly over to the other car.

Just as reached it and made to open the door, a figure emerged from the treeline and raised the pistol in its hands at her.

She froze.

Unarmed and no with no backup for hundreds of miles, Betty's mind raced.

 _Who the hell would have tracked me all the way out here? Was my agent in the Border guards rolled already without my knowledge? If that were the case, though, why let me get all the way here?_

 _Is it because it would be easier to dispose of my body here, away from prying eyes?_

"Hello, Dr Director. I rather thought you might come this way, but my superiors were convinced you'd go straight north from Middleton."

"I'm pretty sure I recognize your voice," Betty said slowly. "You're Joe, right? The Janitor?"

He holstered his pistol and pulled the hood back on his jacket. "You're as good as they say you are," he said, smiling briefly.

"Are you here to _clean up_?" Betty asked, not able to keep the sarcastic tone from her voice. The smile fell from his face, and Betty couldn't quite read the emotion that replaced it.

"Officially? Yes, the Canadian Intelligence agencies will of course be cooperating with our allies, and assisting the American security agencies to prevent you and the other - and I quote 'Rogue members of the organisation known as Global Justice' - from escaping the country and fleeing the investigation into the assassination of Kim Possible in Washington DC this morning."

"Okay… and unofficially?" Betty asked, narrowing her eyes. She'd noticed his careful wording.

"Unofficially, Dr Director... two young people I respect a great deal vouched very strongly for you a while back after that ugly incident in Toronto. Their word carries a lot of weight with both myself and my superiors." Joe paused, then smiled again. "So it's rather unfortunate for our American colleagues that we're rather severely stretched with manpower right now, and the vast majority of our border forces and available assets have been deployed to the west of here, leaving just poor old me to cover this _entire_ six hundred mile section of border. I _did_ warn my superiors very specifically I thought you would pass this way, but they chose to reassign our forces to their own designs."

Betty let herself relax slightly. "Yes, how.. unfortunate."

"Indeed," Joe replied. "It would be _very_ upsetting and potentially embarrassing if any other GJ agents were to somehow take advantage of this weak point in the border and slip across too."

Betty nodded, and pulled out her phone her phone to send a coded message to Will and the few other senior agents she'd trusted enough to warn officially prior to the Ghost protocol enactment, advising them of the weak spot along this section of the border.

"By the way," Joe added conversationally as she finished her message, stepping closer to her. "It does appear that there's been an unfortunate incident with the US border guard, where one of their agents dispatched live rounds at the car of a Canadian secret agent being recalled across the border to support this very tracking effort. Thankfully, an alert Border agent was able to prevent the lock down procedures that were inadvertently triggered and allowed the car to pass through before the agent on board could be hurt by the gunfire. That Border agent is probably in line for a commendation." He winked at her.

Betty smiled in return, a genuine one for the first time that day. _Looks like my in-place agent stays safe, for now_. _Thank God_. _If only all the others could be so easily saved._

"As a result of this unfortunate incident, the cooperation of local air assets to search for anyone nearby is being refused.. temporarily," Joe added.

"How temporarily?" she asked.

"Oh, I'm sure it'll take a good few hours to clear it all up. Again, it would be a shame if someone used that time to slip past this area and deeper into the country, past where we would be concentrating our assets, wouldn't it?"

Betty nodded slowly, then threw the original set of car keys underhand at Joe, who caught them deftly. She opened the door of the new car that her agent had left, and nodded at the Canadian secret agent, who started walking over to the damaged car before he paused and turned back.

"Oh, and Betty?" he called to her.

"Yes?"

"When you find out who killed Kim Possible.. I would consider it a personal favor if you'd be so generous as to let me know so I can assist... by putting several bullets in them myself."

"I'll do my best," she promised him, before closing the door and starting the engine.

He didn't watch her go. As she was about to pull back onto the road, the last sight she had was of him giving her old car a once-over with a small UV light and a vacuum cleaner.

As she drove deeper into Canada, her mind churned as it continued to process the events of the day so far. She had more allies than first thought, obviously. The key was going to be using them at the right place and the right time, and not squandering them before she was ready to act.

First things first, though. She needed to get to Delta site as soon as possible. She was starting to have a very bad feeling about everything that had happened.

 **KP KP KP**

 _Sydney, Australia._

She drifted alone in a world of fire and blood and bright, glowing green, green that engulfed her in pain that ripped screams from her throat but never killed her, an eternal cycle of torment that seemed never ending.

How long she drifted in that place she did not know, but she had lost her name, lost her history, remembered nothing of who she was or what she had done, only that she was in pain and frightened and alone.

Then as soon as the thought came, she realized that it was wrong - she wasn't alone.

A green skinned woman in a patterned green and black catsuit appeared in front of her, stalking forward through the fire without any ill effect. She felt a moment's respite from the fear despite the scowl that marred the woman's beautiful face, until the other woman charged, hands glowing a dangerous green and an expression of hatred carved into her face.

They clashed for what seemed like hours, or days even, fighting back and forth, long past what any normal person should have been capable of, until in a pause in the fight the woman changed, her green and black suit becoming a skirt and a light jacket, and the two of them were sitting together, laughing at some unknown joke, and friendly towards each other.

But the laughter didn't last, couldn't last. A red light engulfed the other woman, and she returned to her black and green and she scowled, and again they fought, until finally, exhausted, she made a mistake.

She was smashed flat on her back, stunned by the power of the unexpected blow, and the green woman stalked towards her, changing as she approached into a green skinned giantess wearing a purple leotard of some sort, and towered over her, raising a strange purple spear ready to impale her.

She screamed in fear, then in another flash of green the spear was gone, but the giant was somehow splitting in two.. and then there was a pair of giants, a male and a female, tossing her around the ruins of a city that looked vaguely familiar, breaking her apart like she was a toy no matter how much she tried to crawl away and hide in the rubble.

A flash of blue and a flash of green and screams, screams that went on and on until she finally realized they were her own.

Then the green glow she had seen earlier reappeared, but this time instead of hurting her it enveloped her, surrounded her, and it was cold and hot and burned and soothed at the same time. It pulled feelings from her she had no name for, drew sounds from her throat that made her shiver with something far different from cold.

Eventually, the noises faded and she felt herself float, as if carried by some magic, through the ruins of the world. The dreamscape spun around her as she flew, but she could ignore it and bury herself into the green. The green would protect her, she knew.

Every so often, the green glow would fade from her and each time she felt like she was falling again, and the red blood and fire and burning green would return, and she cried out at the loss of her safety, until the green returned, accompanied by mumbling that she couldn't understand.

For the longest time she drifted, aware of nothing other than the green that wrapped around her and cocooned her from the hell around her... then slowly, the world returned around her.

Kim discovered she was lying on her back, and her eyes were open, and she was staring at the ceiling. She wondered, inanely, how long she'd been staring without actually seeing anything.

The next thing she realized was that her head was lying in someone's lap, and that someone was running a hand through Kim's short hair, gently stroking her head and making soft sounds that didn't quite sound like actual words.

That gentle touch on her head was offset by the slightly alarming flashes of green that Kim could see by the way the light flickered around in her peripheral vision. The alarm faded as Kim discovered that the green seemed to be producing almost no heat, just a soft warmth and a bright, familiar… green glow.

 _Shego._

Her eyes moved slightly, and focused on the face looking down at her. There were tears in her eyes, and she was taking shallow, shuddering breaths, in time almost with the flashing of green. _Shego's crying? Why's she crying?_ Confusion reigned. _Why am I lying here? Why am I in her lap?_

The world suddenly snapped back into full focus, her mind once again hyper-aware and racing in a panic, and it immediately threatened to disappear again as everything she'd seen, everything she'd felt, came crashing back to her like a tsunami wave. Her eyes opened wide and the pain surged through her from head to toe, her heart pounding like a drum in her chest.

"Don't go," Shego whispered. "Don't go away again, Kimmie. Please. I don't know if I can get you to come back again."

The fear in that plea short circuited the panic in Kim's brain, and brought the spinning to a standstill. Suddenly there was a reason to stay, a reason to bear the pain that was still crashing through her like waves on a beach, and she latched onto that reason like a drowning person to a life preserver.

 _It hurts so much,_ she thought.

"I know," Shego whispered, and her hand started stroking Kim's head again.

Kim hadn't realized she'd said anything out loud, and for a moment she wasn't sure what to think/say next.

"How long?" she eventually croaked, as she realized how dry her mouth was.

"A day or so," Shego replied, handing her a glass of water, which she sipped weakly at. "You, uh.. you collapsed," she added, as if it explained why Kim was lying on the couch, her head in Shego's lap, and Shego's hand gently massaging her head. "Every time I've gone to move you to your bed, or I've tried to leave you to sleep, you started screaming again."

"Oh," Kim said, taking another drink of water. _That explains the dry throat, I guess? And the vague memories of screaming._

She tried to think straight without panic, tried to make sense of everything that she was feeling, but nothing happened. She just couldn't seem to switch on, find the game face anymore. She nearly burst into tears.

 _I'm so broken. Damaged goods. I'm no use to anyone any more. Shego should have just left me there in that heap._

She didn't say it out loud, but she knew Shego could sense it, because the gentle stroking of her head continued. The silence between them grew as painful as the effort to not slip away again, so Kim broke it.

"Are.. you… okay?"

Shego laughed, a short, ugly, unhappy bark of a laugh that turned into a combination of a hiccup and a cough, and all of a sudden a tear rolled down her face. Unbidden, one of Kim's hands went to one of the cheeks, and wiped it away softly.

"Christ, Princess... how can you _ask_ that? Of all the people to ask, after everything that you've… after everything that _I've_ done?" She trailed off.

There was another long silence.

"It's easier," Kim said eventually, and Shego nodded to show she understood. Her hand kept stroking the short blonde hair - a reminder of the damage Kim had done to herself before being found, and one of the few signs that _she_ was Kim Possible, and that other Kim with the long red hair… wasn't. She reached up and grabbed at the hand, which stilled, and then she squeezed.

"You had a panic attack," Shego said, staring off into the distance. "The worst I've ever seen, worse even than the combat vets that used to Hench when they had nothing else…"

Kim stared up at her, and Shego looked down again. "Will you admit that you're suffering PTSD now?" she asked softly.

Kim tried to make a wry smile, but it came out more like a grimace. "I hate admitting that I was wrong and you were right. I need help - proper, professional help."

Shego nodded slowly, refusing to savor the victory or let the words ' _I told you so_ ' slip from her mouth no matter how many times they'd argued this out before today. "I have a few people in mind. People I've vetted, people who I think you - we - can trust. Even if you're supposedly dead now. _Especially_ since you're supposedly dead."

"Tomorrow?" Kim asked, suppressing a shudder at the reminder of what had happened.

"I was about to suggest today," Shego said softly. "But I suppose tomorrow will do."

For a while, they sat in silence again.

"It wasn't me," Kim said softly, almost tentatively, as if trying to sound out a new concept.

"No, Kim, it wasn't you. It was a fake. Someone, somewhere, is taking us - all of us - for a ride."

"I.. I thought that maybe I'm not really me, that I'm a fake, and that the real me just.. and then it was all too much to take."

"Oh, you're you alright," Shego interrupted. Her hand stopped stroking momentarily, and then a finger was poking her in the chest. Kim flinched from it and the reminder of the horrible moment she felt like she'd been about to be stabbed in the chest by the purple spear, but Shego didn't seem to notice.

"Don't you dare go thinking that you're not the pain in the ass Kim Possible I had to track through eight countries and four months of muck. If you ever doubt it, remember you have the scars to prove it from all the surgeries I sat in on... a reminder of how many parts of you they had to open up and to put you back together after I found you."

Kim shuddered at both the memory of the surgeries - and the recovery that she was still struggling through - and the slightly disturbing look of almost amusement on Shego's face.

Then she shivered again. _I've seen the reports. I know what they had to do - and I'm not entirely sure how I survived everything I went through to make it to the hospital in the first place. If Shego hadn't found me then.._ Her thoughts trailed off as she redirected herself away from a dangerous thought, and she eventually found herself dozing lightly, a fitful rest but rest nonetheless.

"So… what now?" she asked, a few hours later, feeling slightly better.

Shego leaned back against the couch and thought about it for a while. "I see a couple of options," she said eventually. "First one is with everyone thinking you _are_ dead, you could say screw the world and live out the rest of your life incognito without ever resurfacing. We finish your rehab, we buy you a new ID, and Kim Possible is nothing more than a memory - good or bad, however you feel about it."

"I'm not so sure I like the implication of that," Kim whispered.

"Why?" Shego asked. "Wouldn't that be liberating? Not to have to worry about anyone, not to have to always be in danger, to be able to live without your past catching up to you?"

Kim thought about it for a minute. "For you, maybe, because of your history... but I thought you were pardoned?"

"Oh sure, pardoned by GJ and a couple of the places that had it out for me, but the piece of paper I got is worth less than the cost of the ink printed on it in a bunch of other countries.. so yeah, that's part of it.. but there's also the crap with my stupid family and all the other things that.. lately I kinda feel less ambivalent and more regretful about," Shego told her.

"I don't know if I know how to disappear like that," Kim said. "At least... I don't _think_ I'm built that way, to walk away."

Shego decided not to point out that she had, in fact, done exactly that, because that probably wasn't the best idea right now - and it would be rather hypocritical, considering she had done exactly the same thing herself at one time. She was still trying to rebuild the Kim Possible she knew, not send her spiralling back down again. Even if Kim didn't want to be that Kim Possible any more, it was her choice, and Shego wouldn't - couldn't - make it for her.

"The other option, then, is that we find out who did it, and why, and then we make their life hell until they've paid for what they did."

"Mmm." Kim pondered the use of the word ' _we'_.

"But I'm not sure you're ready for that yet," Shego added. "You've been doing well, but you're not back to 100%."

"You know that me at 75% is better than almost everyone else at 100%," Kim pointed out, with a slight pout.

"Yes, but a 75% Kim Possible is still sloppy and reckless and eventually a dead Kim Possible."

Kim's flush of anger at being told she wasn't ready had faded away rapidly as her understanding of Shego's words turned inside her and she gained a new level of appreciation of what Shego was going through.. but the mention of death set her pulse racing and her chest tightened as she remembered...

"Kimmie, snap out of it. Kim! Kimberly Anne Possible!"

"Mum?" It was reflex response rather than conscious thought that Kim broke out of the state she had slipped into.

"Oh, god, Shego... I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry," Kim said through her panicked breathing. She teared up as she found Shego holding her, her arms around Kim. "I just.. I just thought of... and it all came back again."

Shego pulled her closer. "It's okay, Kimmie. It's okay. I understand, trust me. I'm here and I'll keep you safe."

"Promise?" she asked weakly, hating how her voice broke, hating the fact that she was reliant on _anybody_ , let alone a former nemesis.

"I promise, Kim."

After ten minutes or so, Kim's breathing and pulse had slowed back to normal, and Shego slowly withdrew from the hug.

"There's a third option, I suppose," Shego said softly. "We find out what we can, and we give it to someone else, anonymously, and let them deal with it. We keep ourselves safe, but we don't ignore it."

"It might be best," Kim said stiffly. "Maybe… we could get some help, too."

Shego looked down. "Do you want to talk to Wade? I'm pretty sure he doesn't think that was _actually_ you, but he might like to get confirmation on that.. and he might have ideas on where to start chasing down these guys."

Kim nodded slowly, and Shego gingerly stood up and stretched before padding down the hall into her bedroom, returning moments later with a familiar blue device. She tossed it over, then followed it with a pair of small cylinders that _looked_ like regular AA batteries, but were far more powerful.

Kim shot Shego a slightly confused look. "I knew you had a Kimmunicator this whole time, but you turned it off and took the batteries out?"

"Yes, I did. I.. uh... was sick of being... woken up by Wade. He has a problem remembering time zones."

"Wade has an eidetic memory.." Kim interrupted.

"Well he apparently has a problem remembering not to piss me off then. Either that or he just _enjoyed_... you know what, never mind."

"Are you sure it's not you with the sleeping in problem?" Kim asked.

"Pot and kettle, Sleeping Beauty."

Kim sighed and shook her head. She grabbed the Kimmunicator and replaced the specialized batteries that Wade had developed - and patented - then after hesitating for a couple of seconds pushed the power button. Within seconds of the device powering back up, a familiar four tone sequence rang out. She looked up with a wry smile.

"You never did change that," Kim noted, answering the incoming call before Shego could think of an adequate retort. "Hey Wade, I think I can guess the sitch this time."

* * *

 **A/N:** Joe the Janitor/Canadian Secret Agent (eh?) appears in Seasons 2's Job Unfair. (I think that episode is also the first mention of Drakkanada?) That last bit of trivia won't be important in the rest of the story. Probably. Hey look, Wade's back next chapter! Stay tuned!


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note** : Welcome to Chapter 4! Thank you all for the reads and reviews so far. To answer a question someone asked: sorry, there's no guaranteed update schedule, it's basically whenever I can get time to polish these chapters in between the writing I have to do for my day job, and the rest of my life..

This chapter is a big one, though, and not just in number of words. This is where things start to really swing into motion, some big events that will shake the world of everyone involved... plus, we get a bit of a look back at a moment in the past of Shego and Kim where but for an accidental slip, things might have changed earlier...

 **Standard Disclaimer:** The various characters from the Kim Possible series are all owned by Disney. All registered trade names property of their respective owners. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

* * *

 **Kim Possible: Shadow Plays**

 **Chapter Four**

 _Northern Ontario, Canada_

Delta site had been home to several villains over the years - originally built as a HenchCo Model 666D Rent-A-Lair, that was par for the course - but a visit from Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable eighteen months ago after an incident in Toronto had ended the lease of the last tenant rather earlier than planned in the HenchCo Contract, and nobody had been back since. Betty had been somewhat surprised that after Global Justice had cleaned up the facility in the remote Canadian tundra then left it alone, given its remote location, neither Jack Hench or any of his various clients had attempted to move back in.

Perhaps the visit from Team Possible had scared off Jack from renting it again, or the last owner had put a bad review on the InTerrorNet version of TripAdvisor after Kim and Ron's somewhat destructive efforts, but since then not even Drakken had been dumb enough to rent it.

Miracles do _occasionally_ happen.

When a shortage of secure Global Justice storage facilities in North America - and growing pressure on Global Justice to sign a technology sharing agreement with the US - became a major concern, Dr Director had seen an opportunity to put to use what was really, with a few upgrades and a solid cleanup effort, a perfectly good space. She surreptitiously increased the security at the site and authorised construction of additional storage areas, planning to use it as the new primary warehouse for the technological advances that GJ confiscated from their somewhat less-than-ethical creators. When the site was ready, she planned to remove the many of the pieces of technology currently stored in less secure sites that had previously proven vulnerable - which would have had a neat side effect of also keeping them out of the hands of the US agencies she didn't trust.

The arrival of the Lowardians had changed that purpose radically, and Delta site - it had never been given an official code name - had been pressed into service before it was fully complete as a storehouse for the salvaged battle tripods and the remnants of the spaceship that Team Possible had brought down that GJ had secured; some via first right of salvage agreements with the countries they had fallen in, some via downright dirty deals with shady elements in many of the others.

Too many pieces had managed to make their way from their resting spots into other hands for Betty to be truly happy, but GJ had managed to secure and transport almost ninety percent of the wreckage left in the Northern America and European regions to the site - locking it up in just about as remote a location as it was possible to get without being at the South Pole (not that Betty hadn't considered sending the salvage there instead, the cost simply wasn't feasible to build a base in the Antarctic, and there hadn't been a convenient ready-build facility there either).

She'd intended the location of the stored Lowardian salvage to be kept secret for good - unfortunately, the very US agencies she didn't trust and had gone to great lengths to mislead, had gotten wind of what was stored at the site after a few months and had raised hell in the halls of power, until they'd been shut down by the President himself at the behest of her allies in the Pentagon and the UN Security Council.

Given what had just happened, though, the sudden disappearance of GJ as a factor made her wonder whether the President would cut his losses with his opponents in Congress and withdraw his support, allowing the US agencies free reign, if they could negotiate with Canada for access.

 _Realpolitik_ looked like it had caught up with her sooner rather than later.

Some of the pieces GJ had stored, particularly the weapons, she had never planned on releasing to anyone, _ever_. If even _half_ the guesses her science division had made at what some of the recovered technology could do were remotely accurate, releasing it would damn the world to a new arms race, one that would make the Cold War look like a kindergarten sandpit argument between a pair of toddlers.

Betty had fought a rearguard against it as long as possible - she had had no intention of letting that happen on her watch - and that was why she'd chosen to make some kind of a stand here.

 _Although it might not be my watch any more_ , she thought bitterly as she arrived at the outer security checkpoint, a mile or so from the entrance to the former lair proper. She coasted to a stop at the security checkpoint, and waited for the guard to appear. She felt a chill run through her when nobody stepped out of the booth to challenge her after thirty seconds.

She took a closer look at the window - there were no sign of the guards who should have been in the booth, nor was there any sign of any patrols around the exterior perimeter. For a second, she couldn't process the situation properly, denial freezing her in place, then her reflexes kicked in as her world turned upside down for the second time in as many days.

She bailed out of the car as an automated turret popped up behind the boom gate and targeted it with a raking burst of machine gun fire. Rolling away from the car and behind the security booth, she pulled the door open then dove through it, staying out of the line of sight of the turret. Behind her, the car spluttered and died as the bullets shredded the engine and

The sight of two dead bodies confronted her, and Dr Director felt a cold fury settle in her stomach as she catalogued the killing blows. Both men had been shot at point blank range in the back of the head.

 _They died without even pulling their weapons.. they never saw the shot that killed them coming. That means they were killed by someone they trusted.. which means we have a traitor inside_. _Damnit! How badly have we been compromised?_

 _How did I not see this coming?_

The situation just got worse and worse.

One of the security lockers in the booth had been opened, but the other was still closed. Betty entered her override on the electronic lock and pulled it open, and almost cheered out loud - a pair of M4A1 carbines with the standard special operations SOPMOD kit were racked inside, with a full spread of ammo - including several rounds for the underslung grenade launcher.

Thanking her lucky stars, she grabbed one of the carbines and loaded the weapon rapidly, then eased her head around the corner of the security shed. The turret spotted her and locked on almost instantly, a stream of armour piercing shells shattering the booth around her. _Move!_ her mind screamed at her, and she dove through the window on the opposite side, rolling behind the remnants of her car, reading the grenade launcher, then ducking out only long enough to pull the trigger.

With a tight _thwick_ noise, the grenade lobbed out in a flat arc, the shot slipping between the armoured plates around the turret, and exploding on impact with the turret machinery. The entire turret lurched a couple of inches up, then collapsed in on itself with a groan.

Betty grinned savagely, acknowledged to herself that the shot was far more luck than skill, reloaded the launcher with another round, and took stock of her situation.

 _The car's worse than dead, I'm in the middle of the Canadian tundra hundreds of miles from civilization.._ She patted her pocket and discovered her phone had stopped a piece of shrapnel from the booth slicing into her thigh.. _and now I have no communications. Unless someone didn't purge the entire base comms system when they were attacked, and even if they didn't and I could use the systems there, I've no idea if there are still hostile forces inside or not._

The smile turned into a grimace.

 _Not great odds._

She walked purposefully past the ruined turret and towards the main facility entrance.

 _I didn't get to where I am now by playing conservative, and I can't just leave. The things stored here are just too dangerous._

The main entrance was open - another bad sign - and there was evidence of battle at the front security station - bloodstains on the floor, spent cartridges strewn everywhere, bullet holes in every window and wall. Betty crept through the area quietly cataloguing every sight, her senses on high alert.

Past the security station and down the main corridor through the barracks area to the elevator, there were more signs of battle - including bloodstains on the floor that looked like they were from bodies being dragged toward the elevator. A pool had formed where they'd clearly been dumped waiting for it to arrive. Betty fought the rising bile in her throat as she struggled to remember the names of the agents she'd assigned to this icy hellhole - an assignment that had potentially gotten them all killed.

 _Why did they bring the bodies down to the storage facility?_ she asked herself.

Not able to find a satisfactory answer, she glanced at the elevator control panel, and shook her head slowly. _That's a sure way to get myself killed if there's anyone still here. Going to have to do this the hard way._

She pulled a small survival knife from her boot and slid it behind the side of the panel then pulled the hilt towards her, popping the faceplate off. A moment later, she had exposed a collection of wires, and Betty flicked through them until she found the ones she wanted, cut them with a knife she slipped from her boot, before twisting them together.

The door slid open silently, and the empty shaft beckoned her. She remounted the faceplate, slung the carbine over her shoulder, muttering a quick thanks that it had the sling strap attached, and stepped through the door, out on to the ladder that ran down the side. She took a quick glance down, regretting it immediately.

 _Intellectually, a five hundred meter deep elevator shaft is imposing, but actually looking down it is terrifying_.

Pushing everything but her need to press on out of her head, she descended slowly, hand over hand, rung by rung, deliberately not thinking about anything else until her foot touched the top of the elevator. She grimaced, then eased the access panel on the roof of the car open and peeked through it. At that exact moment, the doors opened, and she eased it back down, not before seeing several heavily armed soldiers in black uniforms and balaclavas, carrying submachine guns she recognised - the Belgian designed FN P90.

This was no poorly equipped terrorist group, or a HenchCo detachment retaking the facility. Those weapons were normally restricted to law enforcement and military groups which meant..

 _Have US troops already taken the base? Had they moved before I'd even left Middleton?_

The troopers had no identifying patches on their arms or backs that she could see, making it impossible to guess where they were from, and they weren't talking, either.

The elevator started up, and not wanting to lose the progress she'd made, Betty slid to the side then bailed off onto the ladder again, before slipping back down to the level of the doors. Prising open another access panel on the inside, she disconnected the sensors on the door and opened it carefully, ducking through before the elevator could return to the lower level.

She stepped into another scene of carnage. The bloodstains and bullet holes told her that the defenders had put up a hell of a fight before being overwhelmed, and the few bodies still scattered around the immediate vicinity suggested the cleanup either hadn't been completed, or wasn't a priority down here. Maybe she'd arrived earlier than expected, and the troops heading up the elevator had been sent to intercept her after she'd taken out the turret.

 _Too many variables, not enough data to guess,_ she told herself. _Focus on the important things. Find out who these guys are, and stop them getting their hands on the technology here_.

She continued through the corridors deeper into the ex-lair, seeing distinctive signs of close quarters battle, and the use of explosives - flashbangs and fragmentation grenades, probably. Everywhere she looked there was more blood and more bodies and more reasons for the bile in her stomach to churn. Eventually, her brain seemed to switch to a kind of power saving mode, as it shut out extraneous thought and tried to process the carnage.

She was no stranger to death, but this… this was something new. Something personal. Somebody had violated her organisation in a way she found herself totally unprepared for, and she wasn't sure how to handle it.

"Freeze!" a voice shouted out and Betty did as she was told, kicking herself for being caught unaware. "Drop the gun and turn around slowly."

She was dead, and she knew it. She stated to turn-

"Wait, it's Dr Director! Kill her!" another voice shouted.

Betty threw herself sideways, twisting as she did to bring the underslung grenade launcher to bear on the voices behind her, pulling the trigger on it as she fell to the ground, a fusillade of bullets brushing past her to hammer the wall at the far end of the corridor.

The grenade had been aimed high, and it passed over the soldiers and exploded on contact with the roof just behind them with a deafening thunderclap, sending a blast wave of shrapnel and fire into their backs as it scattered them to the ground like ragdolls. Betty had thrown an arm up to cover her face the instant she'd fired, and as the concussion cleared, she pushed herself unsteadily to her feet, shaking her head to clear it slightly.

None of the soldiers on the ground were moving, but Betty approached them warily, gun trained on them. She reached the nearest, and eased him over onto his back with her foot, then turned her head aside in shock and vomited.

 _I recognise him_. A strangely distant part of her brain took over. _He's one of the security detail here. What's going on?_

Then she spotted the blinking red chip on the man's forehead.

 _Oh god no_. _No, no, no!_

She checked another body and recognised his face as well. He too had the ugly red blinking light coming from a chip on his forehead. Betty felt another wave of nausea rise in her throat, and tasted bile. Try as she might, she couldn't hold it down and she vomited again.

Things had just gotten instantly worse for her. If they'd captured the surviving members of the security force and then mind control chipped them, there was potentially up a hundred soldiers - less however many had been killed in the initial assault, she'd lost count of the bodies - in the facility with her, and the sound of the grenade she'd just fired would surely be bringing them all to her.

Hating herself even more for the betrayal, she turned away from the bodies and stumbled down the corridor in the opposite direction, deeper into the facility where the storage bays had been set up. Somehow, she evaded any additional resistance, until she was able to override the last security doors and step into the main bay.

She stopped dead with her mouth hanging open.

None of the crates that had once rested within the gigantic cavern were there any more. None of the parts of tripods broken apart by Shego and Drakken. None of the _intact tripods_.

Only a few pieces of the massive Lowardian cruiser, pieces that had required specialized and _very_ large machinery to transport, were still where they'd been secured.

Everything else was gone.

 _I failed_. _My job was to protect the world from this stuff, and I've failed, utterly._

As she stood still for minutes, contemplating the magnitude of her failure, another squad of troops surrounded her, their weapons drawn. Betty let the rifle drop from her hands and sighed.

"Go on then," she said, looking first at the blinking red lights on the foreheads of the soldiers, then down at her feet. "Make it quick."

Before they could fire and end it all, a figure dropped into their midst and spun swiftly, sweeping the legs from several before firing a taser dart into a fourth, sending a charge of electricity racing through him. As the soldiers turned slowly to face the new threat, he fired two more darts, bringing the last of the soldiers to their knees, before he finished by expertly dispatching the three he'd knocked down previously.

"Will!" Betty gasped, recognizing the man once he pulled his balaclava off.

"Dr Director, we have to get going! Another squad of mind controlled guards are on their way, and I do not believe we can safely remove the chips without a silicon phase disruptor."

"Will, it's gone.. it's all gone."

"Irrelevant," Will said, grabbing her arm and pulling her away. "We need to survive if we're to find who is responsible, and to do that, we need to leave now, and find a safe place to regroup.. if there are any safe places left."

He dragged her through several corridors to the secondary lift, which he opened with an override before slamming his fist on the button for the helipad that was hidden just below the surface of the tundra.

"I might know one safe place," Betty said eventually, shaking her head as they ran for the small VTOL that was stored there. "It's a long shot, but it might be the only shot we've got… and you're probably not going to like it very much."

"I'll probably like it a lot more than being dead," he replied, powering the jet up and pushing the throttles to full, lifting them into the sky.

A moment later, Dr Director had laid in their course, and Will's eyebrows rose. "Wait, _that's_ your long shot?" he queried.

"I told you," she said with a grim smile.

 **KP KP KP**

 _Sydney, Australia_

"Hey Wade, I think I can guess the sitch this time."

"KIM! Thank god.. I mean.. I didn't _think_ it was you, but I tried to call as soon as I saw..." Wade broke off. "Y'know I thought I was immune to... I've been on the internet a while, but.."

"Seeing someone you know - someone who _looks like_ someone you know, I should say, is a bit different?" Kim asked quietly.

"Yeah," Wade said softly. "I'm really _really_ glad it wasn't you," he added.

"Me too," she replied.

"Me three," Shego piped in. "What? I wouldn't be getting paid to make you suffer and enjoying my cosy Antipodean vacation if that had really been you."

Kim couldn't help the amused snort, and her companion smiled at her.

"So, _are_ you okay?" Wade asked.

"No, not really, but I'm working on that," Kim replied after a moment and a significant glance at Shego. "I'm not going to lie and tell you it's no big, Wade, I had a fairly major freak out. I thought I was getting better - I mean, I'm getting physically better - but I realized I'm not where I need to be mentally. That's part of the reason it's taken so long to call you."

Wade nodded. "I know you said months ago that you weren't ready yet, but your parents still think you've been missing for a year, then this happens on live TV? They've hit breaking point. Your mom has left me a dozen messages on the site - I've been dodging them, but I think you should call them."

"No!" Kim and Shego both said simultaneously, then stared at each other with slightly bemused looks.

"Why not?" Wade asked, and Shego waved at Kim to go first.

"I.. I don't think I can," Kim stammered. "I freaked out and ran away, and I know I hurt them but I don't think I'm ready.. I don't think I'm ready to face them just yet."

"And they might still be in danger," Shego added.

"What?" Wade and Kim asked together.

"Think about it," Shego said. "If someone just killed a fake Kim Possible, what would be the first thing they would do if your parents came out and claimed it was faked?"

Kim nodded slowly, understanding Shego's caution. "They'd be targets."

"They might already be."

Kim swallowed uneasily.

"Can we get them a message, at least?" Wade asked.

Shego shook her head. "What would you tell them? You found evidence of a threat, Kim went underground to keep them safe, the assassination is a fake, and Kim's alive but they can't contact her for their safety? They'd still be targets, especially since they wouldn't be acting the right way for parents whose only daughter was just assassinated on live TV."

Kim found herself getting upset, but Shego's next words sent her anger melting away.

"I've met them, Kimmie, remember? They're too nice - they can't act their way out of this. You'd be putting them in more danger."

Wade nodded slowly as Kim shot Shego a sad smile. "You're right, of course," she whispered. "I just hate doing this to them. Wade… even if they keep getting touch, I'm sorry, but you've gotta give them the official line - whatever that is. But maybe tell them to be careful, just in case?"

"Okay, I can do that," he said quietly. "What do I do if Ron gets in touch?"

"You haven't heard from him?"

"Not since he walked into the Japanese highlands after.. well. You know. He asked me to deactivate his tracker chip before he left.."

Kim gasped. "He knew about that?"

"Yeah, he said he understood why it was there but he was going to a place to make sure he didn't need it ever again."

Kim nodded. She figured she knew where that was, but was pretty sure she couldn't get there by herself without a guide who knew the area - and preferably a helicopter to take her to the top - despite her continuing physical recovery, she wasn't keen on that hike.

"It's okay," she sighed. "Ron has his own path to walk now, after everything he.. after..."

She trailed off, and Shego looked at her in alarm, but Kim shook herself out of her reverie quickly.

"Would talking about who it really was help?" Wade asked earnestly to break the tension. "Who got shot, I meant."

Kim considered that. "I don't know, maybe. What do you know so far?" she asked.

"Well, the government is clamping down like a vice on this one. They're calling it an act of terrorism and invoking pretty much every statute on the books to shut down any chatter about it. GNN got told to pull any talk about it from the air."

"That doesn't make any sense," Shego objected. "It happened live, on a dozen different channels, across the entire planet. You can't put that genie back in its bottle."

"I know, but that's just the first bit of weirdness."

"It gets weirder?" Kim asked.

"Well, the FBI has the body locked down tight," Wade said. "Which isn't _that_ unusual at this point, I guess, but they've not bothered contacting a coroner or anything like that. I tried to get answers out of their network but I got totally stonewalled - they've gone low tech. Nothing on a computer. I can't hack paper."

"We know they'll try to stop anyone from seeing the body," Shego predicted. "Wouldn't it be too easy to tell it wasn't really Kim?"

"That was my thinking as well," Wade said, then he paused. "But it leads me to my last point.. I think I have a guess to who the fake was."

A pair of simultaneous exclamations of"What?" rang out, followed by a disgruntled "Well why didn't you _start_ with that?" from Shego.

"Because I wasn't _sure_ of it. I've been running enhancement on the footage, and despite my effort this recording is _not_ high quality, which made it a challenge to verify." He paused. "I'm going to play the last fifteen seconds from a different angle, okay? This was filmed with a camera phone by a random civilian, and uploaded in very low quality to the internet. I've cut it so it starts with the.. kill shot. Oh, and removed all sound. For all our sakes."

Kim braced herself. "Alright, do it."

Once more the utterly surreal feeling caused by seeing yourself - _no, someone_ pretending _to be you_ , she reminded herself - getting shot in the forehead washed over her. As the footage rolled forward, she looked on as the Secret Service agents were also hit, and the survivors hustled the senators away and two grabbed.. this camera dropped first and then the second dead cameraman's body cut off any view of her body.

Wade rewound a few seconds and paused it on a shot that just showed the legs of the Fake Kim through the crush of Secret Service agents. As he moved it forward frame by frame, there was suddenly an unmistakable ripple down the exposed leg, and the skin tone clearly changed.

"Holy shit!" Shego said. "What the hell was that?"

"Oh my god, Wade," Kim said at the same time.

"That was the nanomorph systems that let them change their appearance resetting to default," Wade said. "And there's only one person we know who's ever been able to use those."

"Camille Leon," Kim whispered.

"The cat food heiress?" Shego asked, puzzled.

"It's not conclusive," Wade warned. "It _is_ possible that someone else was able to get the nanomorph technology to implant and work on another person. You know that I monitor certain people that we've encountered in the past, right? Just in case something comes up that might require our involvement again."

"Like Professor Akari?" Kim asked. "Losing his nanotick bombs?" She looked at Shego and saw the former thief stifle a groan with a hand over her face as the memory of _that_ particular encounter - their first, in fact - caught up with her.

"Exactly. I can't prove anything, but I'm relatively certain that the lab where the nanomorph technology was created has been robbed. I'm wondering if that thief was able to get it working."

"Do you know who robbed Dr Stein?" Kim asked.

"No. Unlike some other thieves, this one was decidedly not interested in appearing on camera."

"Hey, when you're as good as I am, being spotted doesn't matter." Shego paused, then corrected her tense. "Didn't matter. I don't know. Hey, _I_ haven't stolen anything for a while, though. Been busy, y'know?"

Kim laughed softly. "So it might have been Camille, or it might have been someone else who was also modified, if someone did manage to steal Dr Stein's research and samples."

"Yeah," Wade replied.

"So back to square one," Kim said with a sigh, feeling slightly defeated. "Not exactly progress."

"I do kind of have a plan... though I'm not sure you're going to like it," Wade warned.

"What did you have in mind?"

"Well, the FBI isn't exactly going to release the body to your parents, since the nanomorph has probably returned to their natural form."

Kim nodded slowly. "Makes sense. How does that help us?"

"I was thinking that someone might want to, uh, break into where they're holding the body and do a little scanning with a Kimmunicator."

Kim sigh at the distinct look of interest that had suddenly appeared on Shego's face. "Oh boy," she muttered. "You know how Shego just said she hadn't done that in a while? You should see her smile - I think you just found her magic words."

Shego's grin widened, somehow, and she patted Kim on the head. "Look at it this way, Princess, I'm doing it for a good cause. The fact that I get to stick it to the man at the same time is just icing on an already sweet cake."

Kim sighed. The situation _was_ slightly bizarre. A year ago, the idea that she would be in favor of _Shego_ breaking into a secure government facility would have been laughable.

A lot of things had changed in that time, though.

"Will you need a ride?" Wade asked, and Shego shook her head.

"Nope, I have my own - my mini-jet is parked in a secure hangar at Kingsford Smith Airport, I can be there in thirty minutes, and then it's twelve, thirteen hours to DC if I include fuel stops."

"I'm coming with you," Kim said firmly.

"Uh nope, no you're not," Shego replied, equally firmly, and held up a hand as Kim's mouth opened to retort. "Three reasons for that, before you get snippy. First, you've already admitted that you're not yet in top physical condition, certainly not enough to break into a secure facility in the heart of Washington DC. Secondly, you're _definitely_ not in the right mental condition to be doing it either."

Kim crossed her arms and huffed, just to make sure Shego knew that while she might reluctantly agree with her assessment, she didn't have to _like_ it. "And third?"

"Well, unless you wanted to spend _way_ more time getting up close and personal than I think _either_ of us would be entirely comfortable with right now, the mini-jet only has a single seat."

"Oh." Kim blushed at the mental image. Then she noted that Shego had said 'right now', and pondered for a second what she meant.

"Yeah, 'Oh'," Shego said with a smile. "I'll be a few days days, because this job is going to need at least a little recon before I go in, but I think you can handle it. While I'm gone, I want you to go here, and talk to Katherine Watson." She grabbed a business card and handed it to Kim.

"Who?"

"She's a psychologist - I want her to be your therapist - while we're in Sydney anyway," Shego told her. "Please, Kim? I know I originally said I'd be there for the first session if you wanted me, but…"

Kim nodded and gave Shego a weary smile. "I understand. No, really, I do understand."

"Good. Be careful, make sure you're using sunglasses and hats to keep yourself disguised, and don't spend more time in public than you have to - oh! Nearly forgot: order something healthy for dinner at least _one_ of the nights! Wade, I'm on my way to my jet. I'm going to leave this Kimmunicator with it's rightful owner - can you give me a frequency to get in touch with you from the jet?"

"Got a GlobalSat connection?"

"Of course."

"Then send a pulse on this frequency, and I'll link straight in," the young genius said, and a frequency appeared on screen briefly. "By the way, thanks for finally turning the Kimmunicator back on."

Shego snorted and handed it to Kim. "I told you when you sent that stupid drone that I would - when I was ready, and when Kim was ready."

"You sent a drone?" Kim asked Wade curiously, and blinked in surprise when Shego scowled. "He sent a drone?"

"Nerdlinger, why don't _you_ tell Kimmie what happened?"

"Ahh, no, I'm good," Wade stammered. When Kim turned back to Shego, her scowl deepened.

"The first time I turned the Kimmunicator off and took the batteries out, your little friend here sent a drone through the window of the bathroom - when I was _in the shower_!"

"It was the only open window I could find!" Wade protested. Kim burst into laughter at the mental image, which only intensified when Shego shot her another scathing look.

"Anyway," she continued, "I suggested that he cease interfering with my management of your recovery."

"You threatened to help me 'understand what Kim's going through' by inflicting the same injuries personally!" Wade protested, causing Kim to loose fresh howls of hysterical laughter.

"And you know exactly why! You remember the first thing you said when your little peeping drone made its grand entrance!" Shego asked.

Wade's mouth, poised for a retort, snapped shut, and as Kim watched, he actually started to blush. When it was clear that he wasn't going to own up to it, she looked up at Shego, who sighed. "'Wow, I didn't realise you were green _everywhere_.'"

Kim fell off the couch because she was laughing so hard, bumping her elbow but not even noticing. She spent a few minutes trying to contain the laughter, to no avail.

"Well I'm glad _one_ of us found it funny," Wade eventually sighed. "I'm going to get some stuff ready for you in DC, Shego. Contact me when you're in the air."

The Kimmunicator screen went dark, and as she recovered enough to sit up vertically again, Kim suddenly felt a twinge of apprehension through the haze of her giggles, and she sobered rapidly.

As she climbed back onto the couch, she raised her hand and ran it through her own hair, then grabbed at Shego's hand.

A small sound of surprise was all that came from the older woman, and Kim's hand fell away in embarrassment, then she looked up at Shego, a question that had burned at the back of her mind for the entirety of her rehab suddenly pushing it's way to the fore. Regardless of how badly Shego was going to react… _I think I need to know this before we go any further._

"Shego, two years ago, when Ron turned you back in to.. you, rather than Miss Go," Kim asked, pressing on despite the sudden shudder Shego gave at the name. "What were you about to say to me. what couldn't you say when you were evil?"

Shego went quiet for a long moment, then sighed. She'd known this question was going to come up sooner or later. She'd been living with Kim for months, and not once had they really talked about their shared history, but it had been inevitable.

"Truth ray on?" Shego asked, with a half smile.

"Do you happen to have one handy?" Kim asked. "But yeah, I think I need to hear the truth right now. Not that you haven't already given me a pretty hefty dose these last six months.. I just haven't really been _hearing_ it."

Shego shook her head, and thought back to that brief moment of near total honesty in the aftermath of Electronique's defeat, until Ron had dropped the Reverse Polarizer and hit her with the red beam again.

"I was going to say that as much as I enjoyed it, our dance was starting to feel a little stale.. and that I was glad I had a chance to actually get to know you without everything else in our lives getting in the way." She paused, and sighed. Might as well be completely honest. "That I was thinking of giving it up."

Kim blinked in surprise. "For me?"

This time it was Shego who couldn't control herself. Her explosive laugh brought a blush to Kim's cheeks.

"Holy shit, what an ego!" Shego said eventually, after she got her breathing back under control. "No, Princess. Not for you. For _me_. Because there's usually a pretty definitive full stop to my old career, and as hard as I am to actually _kill_ , somebody, somewhere would have probably given it another serious shot one day, and my time as Miss Go made me realize I was absolutely not ready to spend the rest of eternity pushing up daisies."

"So why didn't you?"

"Give it up? Because after the buffoon hit me, I managed to convince myself I didn't _actually_ give a damn about dying, I had just been sappy because I had spent too much time around Little Miss Goody-Two-Shoes. The whole damn experience hardened my attitude after that last change. Drakken had a rough time of it that week, let me tell you. Did I ever tell you he had built a giant machine to open a goddamn jar of pickles?"

She let an unhappy laugh escape her.

"But besides deluding myself, there was the fact that I knew I wasn't ready to stop fighting you.. That had become the only perk of the job, tangling with you was honestly the best part of my week, or month or however long it had been..."

Shego shut her mouth with a click of teeth, as if she suddenly regretted letting her mouth keep going, but then she sighed again and continued.

"And then that big green bitch came along and changed the rules, and you were just lying there and I couldn't just _let_ her _kill_ you, and then suddenly I remembered why I wanted to get out, why I wanted _you_ to get out, before..."

She trailed off again.

"After everything happened the second time they showed up, Drakken didn't need me any more, with the cushy government research job, and I had absolutely no plans on signing up with any of the others, despite Dementor's ridiculously large offer… so I took Betty's amnesty because it gave me a legitimate out."

"Then you went and ghosted. I had no idea what was going on until Wade called me - when he got in touch with me all those months ago, I think all I saw was the promise of a nice big paycheck and maybe a chance to rub your face in a little dose of reality. Not entirely sure which of those drew me to the search more, actually, if I'm _completely_ honest."

"And now?" Kim asked, raising an eyebrow.

"And now, I found you, and I've spent six months of my life and a heck of a lot of Wade's money helping you get back to where you were physically, and like I said at the start, once you're back at 100% I'm going to _kick your ass for not getting proper help_ _in the first place_."

Kim blinked in surprise at the vehement tone of voice.

"And that's why I can't let you run off and do something ridiculous. Won't get my chance to kick your ass if someone does it first, will I?" Shego asked, and Kim figured it was a rhetorical question by the way Shego surged to her feet. "Anyway, the sooner I get moving, the sooner I get back with more information about Fake Possible, and the sooner we can work out our next move."

"I'll be here," Kim promised. "Oh and Shego?"

"Yeah Kimmie?" the mercenary asked from the door, her bag slung over one shoulder.

"Thanks again.. for everything."

Shego shot a genuinely happy smile at her. "Sure, Kim. It's no big."

Before Kim could come up with an acceptable response to Shego stealing another of her catchphrases, she was gone.

 _It's bigger than you think,_ Kim thought, the smile returning to her face.

* * *

 **Next time:** Where are Dr Director and Will going? What will Shego find in DC? And what's Jack been up to?


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note** : A wild Chapter 5 appears! You guys are still reading, right? I didn't get a lot of reviews for the last chapter.. and I'm not exactly begging for reviews, just keen to know what people think of what I'm writing here. (Thank you to those who have been kind enough to drop a note by, I appreciate it more than you know.)

Things move forward again, here, pieces start to fall into place, hints of the bigger scheme, and future events... the action you're all dying for (I'm sure) is nearly here..

 **Standard Disclaimer:** The various characters from the Kim Possible series are all owned by Disney. All registered trade names property of their respective owners. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

* * *

 **Kim Possible: Shadow Plays**

 **Chapter Five:**

 _HenchCo HQ, Nashville._

Jack Hench threw himself into the chair at the head of the conference table and scowled at the Director of Hench Operations, who'd asked for an urgent meeting with himself and several of the lawyers from the contracts department.

"This better be good, I'm extremely busy," he growled. His plans for exploiting the opportunity Wheeler had inadvertently dropped into his lap were at a critical stage, and his natural instinct was to supervise everything, even though he knew how much his senior field commanders hated micromanagement from HQ.

Beau Rock-Racey ran a hand through his silver hair before straightening his tie and fiddling with his suit lapel. Jack watched him hesitate and had a sudden inkling that the problem was a major one. The man in charge of virtually every aspect of HenchCo's biggest division was normally one of the calmest, most unruffled men Jack had ever worked with, but he was acting like it was his first day as a Hench for Gemini right now.

"It's bad. We have a problem with the Seniors."

"What the hell do you mean, we have a problem with the Seniors?"

"Jack, I just got word this morning that Senior Sr intends to cancel his recurring order as of next quarter... and that the whole company of Henches he currently has on the island are loading up their gear to leave within the day. He's even placed an order for a transport to pick them up and return them here, rather than sending them back commercial."

"He can't just break the contract like that!" Jack objected, thinking of how much money losing that recurring order was going to cost him.

"Actually sir, he's claiming that he's not technically breaking the contract, because while he's releasing them from their obligations on the island, he's still paying out the full value of the current contract and simply not taking the option of renewing it again."

Jack frowned at that and turned to one of the stable of lawyers he kept around for just this sort of contract dispute. "Can he actually do that?"

"We're not sure, sir, it's the first time one of our clients has ever returned Henches of their own volition. As you know, normally they're returned after the client is inevitably arrested and the Henches are released by whatever local or international law enforcement agency picked them up and cleared their activities as not in contravention of any local laws, as per the terms of our agreements with most major agencies. It's not something we've ever had to look into before."

"Well go back out there and _find out_!" Jack shouted, losing control of his temper. "What the hell am I paying you for?"

"Yessir!" The lawyer swallowed audibly, then beat a hasty retreat from the conference room, the rest of the cohort following suit at a glare from Jack.

He turned back to Rock-Racey and tried to calm himself. The man had been with him since nearly the start of HenchCo, one of the first lobbyists he had hired to build support in the right places in Washington, then around the world as HenchCo expanded, and later as a loyal ally on the Senior Executive Team. Jack still needed his support, even now, and couldn't afford to get him too far offside.

"If Senior cancels the order, we lose our eyes on that island, and that is not an acceptable outcome," Jack said, standing and pacing the far wall, looking out over the city of Nashville, but seeing nothing other than the dollar figures and intel losses in his head. "How can I continue to play our clients off against each other and the rest of the world if I don't know what they're going to do _before_ they do it?"

Rock-Racey shrugged again when Jack looked at him and the pacing intensified.

"I'm sorry sir, I know it places you in a difficult situation. I'm not a lawyer but I'm pretty sure from a quick glance over the contract, there's nothing that we could use against Senior to stop him from doing it in terms of lawsuits." He paused, tapping his fingers on the arms of his chair, then sighed.

"If it were anyone other than Senior Sr, I'd suggest that we let them know that their next hire will come at a much greater cost, as an incentive to keep the current agreement ongoing, but he's got more money than God, so I don't think that'll work…" Rock-Racey considered his next words carefully. "Of course, that also assumes that he ever does hire again - and the way I'm reading his actions, I get the feeling he might be quitting the business entirely."

Jack looked down at his desk and the latest cashflow reports, mind flicking through several other options, rejecting each of them in turn. Senor Senior Sr, getting out of the villain business? It didn't seem likely, but then the man had always been a law unto himself, never quite what you expected from a villain.

 _Maybe he thinks that with Kim Possible 'dead', there's no reason to keep scheming. Goddamnit, the whole plan of eliminating the girl and framing GJ was to open the playing field for more players to enter as a smokescreen for our other activity.. but with Drakken and Shego already off the table, if anyone else decides to retire, the whole plan could backfire spectacularly._

 _Maybe... maybe it might be wise to look at my alternative plans for the final phase._ Jack thought. _I would rather take what I can and retire to a nice country with no extradition treaties, and leave Wheeler and his cronies hanging whenever I choose with just enough rope to hang themselves._

But in the meantime...

"Okay, if the money angle is out, do we have anything at all on Senior that we could potentially use as... leverage?" Jack asked.

Rock-Racey pulled out his tablet and flicked through some notes that he'd prepared. "I thought you might ask that, sir, and I've looked over a few things from the files. Unfortunately, there's not actually a great deal. Even before the alien attacks, Senior had been pretty much inactive for a while.. let's see.. still hosting meetings of the Villains' League regularly, friendly with various European crime figures but nothing which would give us any real leverage as far as European law enforcement, hmmm, has been contributing large sums to groups organizing several rebuilding efforts, and opened various shelters for displaced persons in Spain, France, and Germany - all under false names and taking no publicity for it.. maybe that's something we could use to damage his evil credibility?"

"No, too pedestrian, that's boring. What about his kid?" Jack asked.

"Not a lot on him, either. Known to have been associated with Shego briefly, nothing came of it from what I know, something here about signing away all their money to Vinnie Wheeler..."

Jack raised an eyebrow at that. He remembered Wheeler making a boast about that at their first meeting, and was glad that ever since he'd been forced to agree to work with Wheeler in that first shakedown six months ago, he had been doing his research.

The fact that Wheeler's big plan had dovetailed so nicely into one of Jack's own contingency plans… well, that was just serendipity, and Jack had naturally taken full advantage. He was looking forward to seeing the look on Wheeler's face when the man realized he'd been duped.

"Aside from that, nothing really interesting. Oh, here we go, something about a new girlfriend. Ohh... this is sort of interesting," Rock-Racey said.

"What have you got?"

"Junior's new squeeze is a recent graduate from one Middleton High School."

Jack's eyes widened, then took on an evil gleam, the hint of another plan starting to take shape in his head. Yes, if the Seniors wanted to play hardball, Jack would give them a reminder that he could play better than anyone. "Well isn't that something."

"I'm not quite sure how it helps, since Possible is dead," Rock-Racey added with a shrug. "Sorry, but that's about all we've got on the Seniors, Jack."

Jack did his best to prevent his face from breaking out into a full blown smile. Rock-Racey hadn't been privy to the real story of the events in Washington, and Jack wasn't about to let him in on it. The man was the lynch-pin of the Hench division and still had an irreplaceable value to Jack in terms of his contacts all over the world, but most especially in Washington, London and Tokyo, and Jack needed him to be as clean as possible so any investigation of his department - the most public of HenchCo - found nothing untoward.

"Leave it to me, Beau," he said slowly. "I think I've got a few ideas..."

He dismissed the other man and pulled a specific phone from his pocket, dialed a number from memory, and again waited for the connection to go through and buzz to indicate it was secure.

"Yes, it's me. No, it's not about the senator. No, this is something else. Senior is rocking the boat, and I think we need to do something about it. It's time to make an example of someone, and I have an interesting angle that might help with the squeaky wheel while we're at it. We just have to play the cards right..."

 **KP KP KP**

 _Nice, France_

Betty scanned the surrounds of the small coffee shop with a watchful eye as she and Will approached it on foot, having conducted a brief reconnaissance around it. She looked over the various patrons on the tables outside, spotting the person she was meeting there almost instantly - and her contact noticed her at the exact same time.

Bonnie Rockwaller rose smoothly to her feet and offered a hand. "Dr Director, I must say I was _quite_ surprised to receive your message. It's a pleasure to see you again."

The smile on her face almost made Betty reconsider her entire plan for seeking refuge, but then she thought back to the meeting with the brunette all those months ago, and how easily she'd been manipulated by her and her new patron - and now official father-in-law. _I have to believe they'll treat me honorably - at least to their version of honor._

"Mrs Senior, I wish I could say the same," Betty replied, as she eased herself into a chair opposite the brunette, who sipped daintily at her coffee and stared back with hard eyes.

"You do know I'm keeping my maiden name for my acting career," she said finally, a slight edge creeping into her voice.

"I do. I also know that you introduce yourself as Mr and Mrs Senior Jr whenever you host a meeting of the Villain's League."

"I really should do something about Rosemary - if only Pops didn't love her food so damn much," Bonnie said, but this time the smile seemed more genuine. Betty felt momentarily sorry for the harried cook and secret agent, whose workload had almost tripled overnight as a result of the handshake agreement she'd negotiated with Bonnie and Senior Sr.

"I hope not, I was planning on letting her retire to help with her grandkids in a few years," Betty said truthfully.

"Ahh, isn't Alexi just adorable? Almost makes me consider having a kid myself - one day," she added hastily as she saw Dr Director's eyebrow quirk. "Are you going to introduce your friend? And invite him to sit down?"

"Bonnie Senior, this is Will Du." Betty waved for Will to sit, and he did so, stiffly.

Bonnie's eyebrows had shot up at the mention of his name. "No shit! This is Mr Perfect himself?"

Will's expression changed from one of wariness to one of surprise, a look mirrored on his boss' face. Bonnie laughed at the matching expressions, and took another sip before setting her cup down and addressing the two of them again.

"Kim was tweaked for _months_ after you first showed up - every time I mentioned your name she damn near popped a vein. I should agree to whatever you've come to ask for help with for that enjoyment alone."

Betty laughed without any real humor. "I'd hold you to that, if I thought you were remotely serious, or if I wasn't well aware that what I'm about to ask for is going to cost far far more than six months of tormenting Kim Possible in high school. Especially given what just happened."

Bonnie sobered immediately. "I saw the broadcast," she said quietly. "I think everyone did. Pops was crushed."

"Really?" Will asked. "I would have thought he'd have been thrilled to have a thorn in his side removed."

"You don't understand him very well, do you? Haven't you read the psych profile that I'm sure Dr Director had her staff psychologists prepare on him?" Bonnie asked. "It's never been about _killing_ Kim - oh sure, if she wasn't good enough to survive the traps he devised and installed, it would have been splatski for her - but for him, it's always been the game, the dance between good and evil. And the game has _rules_ , the dance has _steps_. Someone pulled a real nasty one, and he likes it even less than I do."

"I wouldn't have thought you'd mourn her much," Betty said softly. "You weren't exactly friends, from what I know."

"You don't have to be _friends_ to think taking a sniper bullet to the head on the steps of the Capitol is a fucked up way to go," Bonnie growled. Then she sighed. "And I never got my shot - sorry, poor turn of phrase - I mean, I never got to match it against her in _her_ world."

Betty sighed. "I can understand that, I guess."

"So, the favor," Bonnie said. "Pops pretty much ruled you straight out, not only does he not think it's your style, he said you'd probably try and take the bullet yourself if you had any inkling this was going to happen."

Betty nodded. "She… showed a great deal of promise, and it was no secret I harbored hopes of one day bringing her into Global Justice."

"But ever since someone convinced her you were a threat, and had to be publicly denounced, and someone else killed her in the middle of that press conference, you've been on the back foot. My guess, you need somewhere to lay low, and lick your wounds, plan your next move."

Betty nodded. "Something like that, yes."

Bonnie stood and waved to a very large bodyguard, who sauntered over and left very large denomination Euro banknote on the table, before speaking quietly into his wrist microphone.

"I just so happen to have a private aircraft on standby at Aéroport Nice Côte d'Azur. I'm leaving in two hours for a nice private island that nobody will bother me on - other than my husband, probably. Find your way to the tarmac before the time's up and you can follow me there and enjoy the same protections. If you're not there in two hours, I'm leaving you behind."

Without another word, Bonnie turned on her heel and slid into the large black limousine that had pulled up right beside her. As the car sped away, Will turned to Betty and raised an eyebrow.

"Can we trust her?" he asked.

"Not _completely_ , but she is still Senior's daughter-in-law, and I have to believe that means she's playing the game his way, at least while he's still alive and mentoring her, which means she's going to give us an honorable deal right at this moment - at least until playing us off against someone else works better for her."

"Do you think she'd give us up to the Alphabets?" he pressed.

"No, I don't think so. If anything, she'd probably roll us to Jack or one of the other players on their side of the business - probably use us for leverage in some sort of deal that ends up letting whoever acquires us to do with us what they will."

Will shuddered. "Better work on an exit strategy," he muttered.

"Oh, I've got one in mind, but if I have to use it, it'll mean not trusting a single other person on the planet ever again," Betty said. "And giving up on ever getting justice for Kim, or for everyone at Delta, and leaving the technology that was there in the wild, unrestricted. Whoever has it... they get to do whatever the hell they like with it."

Will paled further and pondered exactly what that step would be, if required. "That's… drastic."

"It's realistic," Betty sighed. "And I hate even thinking about it, but it is what it is. Come on, we'd better get moving to the airport. I don't know how long we have until the DGSI cottons on to us being here. They're probably not as likely to hand us over to the Alphabets as MI5, but I'd rather not take the risk that Henri has to play ball with them because of yet more politics. Let's retrieve the VTOL and get ready to shadow Bonnie's flight."

 **KP KP KP**

Four hours later, Betty let Will bring the VTOL in for a perfect landing on the short runway on the private island the Seniors maintained in the Mediterranean sea, before rolling it forward through a hangar door that had been opened to accept both the VTOL and the Learjet-45 they had followed from Nice. The enormous hangar space easily swallowed both aircraft - and inside were dozens of others ranging from simple single engined props to a VTOL that looked almost as advanced as their own - and the centerpiece, a magnificently restored Boeing B-29 Superfortress.

Betty's eyes roamed over the pristine looking World War II bomber, and it took a second for her to realize her mouth was hanging open in shock.

 _Holy shit_ , she thought to herself. _It's just as pretty as Granddaddy said it was_. For five seconds she was 6 again, sitting on the lap of her father's father, listening to stories of bombing runs over Nazi Germany in the last months of the Second World War.

A low whistle from Will drew her attention, and she noticed that he wasn't staring at the Superfortress - his eye had instead been caught by what looked to be an Su-35 Flanker. "Senior has quite the collection," he said, then reached out and shut down the engines as they reached their assigned parking spot, from the signalling the ground crew was giving him. "I _do_ hope you're not planning to let him add to it."

Betty looked over at another VTOL nearby, and blinked when the color pattern became clear. "He's already got one by the looks of it, and from someone we both know, at that.."

Will followed her glance then also blinked in surprise. "That pattern... no. Surely not."

"It would explain why nobody's seen her in months, if she's been hiding out here."

"It just doesn't seem her style," Will commented. "She's not exactly the hiding kind."

"That's what worries me," Betty replied. "If she _is_ hiding here, what is she hiding _from_?"

They finished securing the aircraft's systems then lowered the boarding ramp at the rear. As Will completed his log book and handed it over for Betty to sign off, a task she performed automatically despite the entirely abnormal circumstances, she got a good look at her welcoming committee.

Two very large bodyguards in black suits with red trim at their cuffs and lapels stood to either side of another very large young man, though where the two guards looked professional and serious, the slicked back hair, yellow shirt and black pants the third man wore clashed horribly with the impossibly aristocratic bearing that he presented - which he spoiled immediately by opening his mouth.

"Father told me to come and meet you and take you to him. I don't see why he bothered, he could have simply asked one of these fools to do it. I have had to interrupt my daily suntanning routine for this!"

Betty shook her head sadly. She could have tried to explain to Señor Senior Junior about the protocols and niceties of greeting guests, and that sending his own son was a gesture of respect from Senior Sr, but she suspected none of it would make it through the hair gel and tanning lotion.

"Very well, conduct us quickly to your father, and I am sure he will let you return to your tanning without delay," she told him instead.

Huffing, he turned on his heel and stalked away, waving impatiently for them to follow. Betty rolled her eyes at the two bodyguards, one of whom smirked at her and winked, before turning to escort the guests from the hangar to the mansion proper.

"Ahh, my dear Elizabeth, welcome to my humble abode," Señor Senior Sr exclaimed, and beckoned them over. "You'll forgive me for not meeting you in person, and for not rising, I do hope.

Betty kept her surprise from showing on her face as she took in the much frailer appearance of a man she'd last seen just eight months ago.

"Oh, it is nothing serious, I assure you," he said with a smile. "I had a little fall and required surgery on my hip, thus I am wheelchair bound at least briefly. I will be back on my feet soon, have no doubt."

Betty reached the table he was seated beside, and took the indicated seat, waving for Will to join her.

"Señor Senior Sr, Senior Special Agent First Class Will Du, one of my best."

"A pleasure," Senior said, leaning forwards and shaking hands with the younger man over the table. "I've heard a lot about you. Congratulations on your capture of Pool Shark last year, that was inspired crime fighting."

Will blushed and stammered a thank you. Betty, by now somewhat accustomed to both Senior's knowledge of their activity and enjoyment of their successes in what he called the 'grand game', grinned at Will's discomfort at being given a compliment by a super villain.

"I understand you approached dear Bonita for assistance," Senior said, shifting from jovial to businesslike in an instant.

Betty nodded. "We did. We've exhausted almost all our other options, I'm afraid, so I'm turning to the one person on the other side that I trust to deal with us honorably."

Senior nodded thoughtfully. "A great compliment you pay me, indeed," he said. "And in such times, a man such as myself could never turn away such a request."

He shook his head and leaned back in his wheelchair. "The death of Kim Possible was a crime of the most heinous proportions. I abhor those who resort to such barbaric tactics to advance their goals, and I cannot allow myself to be associated with their kind, thus I find myself aligned with _you_ in wishing to discover who is behind this assassination and bring them to the... _appropriate_ _justice_."

His inflection on the words appropriate and justice told Betty and Will that he probably had slightly different ideas for how to achieve that justice, but both of them were well aware that they didn't have a choice in the matter. If they sought Seniors help, they accepted that he might have conditions that they would normally never agree to.

"Indeed," the white haired gentleman villain continued, "I was most surprised to hear the allegations that Miss Possible laid at your feet just prior to her death. While most people might immediately consider her violent death proof of her claims, it makes me doubt them all the more."

"We've been trying to work out how she was convinced to make that speech," Will said after a moment's contemplation. "It just doesn't make sense from any point of view."

"I have reviewed the footage several times," Senior said. "As upsetting as that was, I felt it necessary to examine all the evidence with great care before drawing any conclusions. I first suspected that she may be under the influence of drugs which led her to be susceptible to suggestion, but she shows no sign of them in her mannerisms."

"There are longer term versions of the drugs you're thinking of," Betty pointed out. "Drugs that over time could break a persons and leave them vulnerable to programming."

"True, and I have not entirely eliminated that possibility but, like the short term versions, they do tend to leave telltale signs in minor ways, and Miss Possible displays none of them."

"Okay, assuming drugs were not involved, what other options are there?" Will asked.

"Mind control, possibly," Senior said. "Though there is no evidence of a control chip on her forehead, it is possible that the devices have been improved to allow them to be placed on the neck, or implanted directly into the brain even."

Having only recently experienced such an event at the Delta Site, Betty shuddered - and then shuddered again at the possibility of a mind controlled Kim Possible. Something felt off, though... then she remembered the reports from an early Team Possible mission. "Kim reported that while under mind control, she had no free will or imagination or even expression, really. She said that Ron told her that she was almost robotic in her actions."

"Yes, and that's why I find it unlikely, unless, as I suggested earlier, the devices have been considerably upgraded. I find that notion even less likely, however."

"How so?" Betty asked.

"Simple economics," he replied, with a shrug. "If I had Kim Possible mind controlled and she was able to appear as normal as she did, then why would I put a bullet in her head moments after going public?"

He paused, as if considering his next words carefully.

"If I had her so controlled, she would have been best put to use _performing_ the assassinations, not being the victim of one, no matter how much publicity it would get. If the goal was to eliminate you, and Kim Possible was under mind control, why not simply use her to eliminate you directly? Without meaning to disrespect the pair of you or your skills, I have my doubts that you could stop her."

Betty nodded in silent agreement, the shook her head as something occurred to her. "There's another factor that you need to take into consideration," she said. "That the goal wasn't just to eliminate us, it was to force us into a very specific course of action."

"I am not sure I understand."

"Will and I left headquarters after instituting a full lockdown procedure of Global Justices' forces worldwide, including those currently engaged in direct undercover or operational activities. We decided to rendezvous at a secure facility in northern Canada to regroup however.. when we arrived the facility had already been attacked and breached, and because of our lockdown order, nobody knew about it."

"This secure facility, what was it for?" Senior asked quietly.

Betty let go of any remaining doubts about trusting their host, and plunged ahead.

"Remnants of Lowardian technology, including parts from the Battlecruiser brought down by Ron Stoppable."

"Ahh," Senior sighed. "That suddenly makes more sense."

"How?" Will asked.

"Am I safe in assuming that you have been somewhat reticent in sharing the spoils of your recovery efforts with anyone in the US Government?"

"You are."

"Well, suddenly even more pieces begin to fall into place, though the puzzle picture they form begins to disturb me even further."

"What pieces?" Betty asked, dreading the answer.

"A week ago, there was a sudden surge in encrypted chatter among certain sectors of the US agencies most directly involved in homeland security, as if a large terrorist event was suddenly likely. At the time, I had thought it was linked to current events in the Middle East but there was an anomaly - DARPA was heavily involved in the chatter."

Betty blinked in surprise. DARPA, the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency, was a remnant of the wartime OSS, responsible for developing military applications of high technology developments.

"I asked myself why DARPA would suddenly be liaising so closely with the NSA, CIA and Homeland Security, but could not come up with a satisfactory explanation until now."

"Holy shit," Will muttered.

"You think DARPA was told they were about to receive a sudden influx of Lowardian technology," Betty asked.

Senior nodded. "I do."

"Which implies that the US government conspired to murder one of its own citizens and lay the blame at GJs door to coerce us into instituting the Ghost Protocols, then sent special forces to raid Delta site and recover the Lowardian tech."

"Yes."

"Will, I don't think that 'holy shit' is sufficient."

"We can prove nothing of this, of course," Senior said. "I doubt anybody ever could."

Betty frowned. "That's it, then? The US Alphabet Agencies get the most dangerous tech since the atomic bomb and we just walk away and let them get away with murder - literally?"

Senior shook his head. "No, no, I don't think so. I do not think you would walk away from this, I do not think I should either. But there are.. complications."

"Like what?" Betty asked.

"Like me," a new voice said - one that Betty recognized instantly despite not having heard it for almost a year.

If she hadn't already spotted the green-and-black VTOL in the hangar, she was fairly certain she might have had to prise her jaw off the floor. Instead, she turned to the newcomer and smiled.

"Hello, Shego."

 **KP KP KP**

"Hiya Bets, how's life on the other side treating you?" Shego asked as she sauntered over to the table and flopped into a chair, her presence instantly commanding despite the size of the room. "Pops, you look like shit."

Senior Sr smiled sadly, and shook his head. "Ahh, dear Shego, as tactful as ever. Still, it is nice to see you, even under circumstances such as these."

"What's she doing here?" Betty asked.

"Stopping by to see the sights, catch some sun, and lounge about like the retired mercenary I am, of course," Shego replied.

"Bullshit," Will said.

Instead of getting angry like expected, Betty was surprised when Shego laughed and relaxed back into her chair.

"You're right, that's a crock of shit. As if I would be doing that at a time like this."

"Shego is here because I contacted her privately and asked for her assistance. As you can clearly see, I'm in no shape to conduct a more active role in the investigation, and my love of Junior and Bonita makes me reluctant to put them in harms way. Shego, on the other hand-"

"Is expendable and deniable - but also _very_ capable," Shego said smugly, and Senior nodded.

"Why would she -" Will paused. "Why would you help us with this?" he asked.

Shego considered her response for a long moment. "Because she was the closest thing to a friend I had, sort of. And even if she probably wouldn't have agreed with _that_ , she was still the best kind of rival a girl could have.. and nobody deserves to go out like that. Not even _me_." Betty saw a fierce anger in her eyes. "Whoever did it is going to learn exactly how bad an idea it was to off Princess Perfect."

Betty turned to Senior Sr. "I assume you called Shego in because you have a target in mind?"

Senior nodded and brought up an image on the screen behind him. "This is the FBI headquarters in Washington DC, where Kim Possible's body is being held. Currently, it's unclear whether an autopsy is being conducted, but I rather doubt that we could trust any that was publicly released given what we suspect as the motives."

Betty nodded. "And since neither of us are exactly able to move freely any more, Shego makes sense as the field operative."

Senior nodded. "Shego brought her single seat mini-jet, but you may have noticed that I have been holding onto her regular VTOL for her, so I was planning on asking you two to act as mission support, even though I know Shego is going to hate the idea."

Betty laughed at the torn look on Shego's face.

"For Kim," she said in a placating tone.

Shego nodded reluctantly. "For the Princess. But you don't play with my baby. _Nobody_ flies her but me."

Betty nodded in agreement. "Will, grab our gear from our VTOL and transfer it to Shego's. Senior Sr, any tactical info you can offer on that building?"

He nodded as Will stood and hurried from the room. "Everything I had was just uploaded to Shego's system. I'll let you plan your entry and extraction while you're in the air - I'm not very good with micromanaging anyway."

Betty nodded and stood, extending her hand to shake Senior's. "Thank you for your help so far."

Senior smiled as he reached up and shook. "I like to think that if our situations were reversed, you would do the same for me, despite our previous opposition. In point of fact you already did."

Betty nodded. "I guess so. Still, thank you."

"I do hope you'll come back here once we have new information," Senior said. "It is a pleasure to have such delightful company on the island again."

"Alright enough of the sappy shit," Shego said. "Pops, if your boys have kept her topped up and properly serviced like you said they would..."

"They have."

"Then I'll have nothing to complain about," she said.

"And you'd _really_ hate that," he said, winking at her.

Shego laughed. "You might look like shit but you're still as sharp as ever. Maybe there's hope for you yet."

"I'm delighted to hear it," he said dryly. "Do _try_ not to kill our new allies."

"For Kimmie," she replied, more to herself than to him. "Anything."

Dr Director shook her head in surprise at the tone of the ex-villains voice as she followed the woman back towards the hangar, wondering in her head exactly when Shego had started to respect - no, _like_ \- the young heroine that had been her most frequent foe for so long.

The world really was a strange place these days.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Notes:** Polish and post two chapters, inside a week? That's a CRAZY idea. Lucky for you, I saw Deadpool yesterday and his insanity might just have rubbed off a little on me... you guys are getting another chapter right now! Make sure your belts are fastened low and tight across your hips, this one is gonna be a wild ride.

 **Standard Disclaimer:** The various characters from the Kim Possible series are all owned by Disney. All registered trade names property of their respective owners. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

* * *

 **Kim Possible: Shadow Plays**

 **Chapter Six** :

 _Northern Atlantic, en route to Washington DC._

Shego was having a hard time believing her luck - and she wasn't entirely sure whether to call that luck good or bad just yet.

She had been connected to Wade, the pair of them going over the building security plans and figuring out a viable way into the FBI Headquarters in Washington DC, where the fake Kim's body was currently being kept awaiting an 'autopsy', when the mini-jet's communications panel had alerted her to another call coming in.

"Gonna have to put you on hold, short stuff," she'd told Wade. "Got a call coming in from the only other person I trust with my direct comm channel."

"If Senior Sr asks you what I think he's going to, I think you should take him up on it," Wade told her with a wide grin.

Shego shot him a mock scowl. _Little smart ass_.

"And if he wants me to string up too-smart-for-their-own-good geeks to stop them bugging him? Still want me to go along with him then?"

"Then you'll both get a not-so-friendly reminder of what I did to Team Impossible," Wade replied seriously, the return scowl on his face causing her to laugh involuntarily.

"You know that one day you're going to go evil and Princess is going to have to come after you, right?" she'd taunted him.

"'Never happen," he'd replied easily. "My therapist says I have a solid enough moral grounding to avoid that danger."

Shego had been momentarily surprised at that little factoid. "You have a therapist?" she'd asked.

"Uhh, duh? I'm a thirteen year old genius with three PhD's and a dozen awards for various discoveries and designs. I have trouble relating to other doctors - the _science_ kind - let alone kids my own age, one of the few ways I feel like I've ever done _useful_ things in my life is helping out Kim, even if she's not always appreciative... of _course_ I have a fucking therapist."

Shego had been left speechless by several revelations in his rant - the raw honesty surprised her most, but it was the sudden realization that it was unrequited love that explained the dedication he'd put into helping Kim, and the expletive he'd dropped third didn't really register until a few seconds later.

"Get back to me after you've talked to Senior Sr," Wade had told her eventually, after the pause had dragged into an uncomfortable silence, and he'd disconnected.

Señor Senior Sr had, as she and Wade anticipated, asked her to return to his island and assist with his investigation into Kim's 'death'. She'd been prepared for the request sufficiently to avoid letting slip the truth of Kim's survival and instead pretended to reluctantly agree, eventually drawing out of him that he was anticipating some additional help from 'well placed sources' and was planning the exact same next step that she was - raiding the government facility in Washington where the Fake Kim's body was.

She hadn't guessed that said sources actually meant Betty Director and Will Du, though it made a certain amount of sense. Senior Sr was probably the only villain that Betty could have turned to after the proclamations of the fake Kim brought down the weight of the US legal system - not to mention public opinion - against her. His respect for the contest between good and evil, or at least, his version of evil, was legendary and she wasn't surprised that he was upset about the manner of Kim's supposed death.

She turned to her current copilot - the aforementioned ex-GJ head - who was currently staring out the forward windows, and coughed to get her attention.

"Sorry, daydreaming," Betty admitted sheepishly. "Trying to work out where I went wrong, where I missed that signs that Global Justice was compromised. Why we weren't prepared for this."

"I'm not entirely sure anyone could prepare for being accused of treason on live television and the accuser shot dead seconds later," Shego deadpanned. "And for what it's worth, getting out alive, and getting to Triple S, that's gotta count for something right?"

Betty looked off into the distance and sighed. "You're just loving this, aren't you? I'm surprised you're not drowning in schadenfreude."

Shego thought back to the distressed girl lying in a catatonic state in her lap, and the heart wrenching conversations that followed, and shook her head.

"Not really," she said. "Not as much as you might think - maybe not even as much as I would have thought, six months ago. It's not exactly the kind of circumstances I imagined ever working with you."

"You imagined working with us?"

"Hey, I helped save the world once - even if it was _almost_ entirely self interest," Shego objected. "And I helped Kim a couple of times."

"Not exactly the same, is it?"

"No, but it goes some way to demonstrating my point. I might be durable enough survive the end of the world as _you_ know it, but I get the feeling it would be pretty damn boring. I can't steal from the dead." She paused, and a grin crept onto her face. "Well I _could_ but grave robbing has never really been my thing and the closest I got to tomb raiding forced me to spend enough time with Monkey Fist to put me off the Lara Croft shtick for _life_."

Dr Director shook her head. "So if we'd come to you and asked for help in saving the world from someone about to destroy it that _wasn't_ Drakken, you'd have said yes?"

"No, I'd have said 'How much are you going to pay me?' first."

"Bloody mercenaries," Will Du grumbled as he eased himself into one of the rear seats.

"I am what I am, Secret Agent Man," Shego replied. "But if you want the best, you've gotta pay the price - and I do not come cheap."

"So what's your price right now?" he countered. "We certainly didn't agree to pay you for this... Not that we even could right now if we wanted to."

"Oh, I know that, but don't get it into your head that I'm doing this out of the goodness of my heart. He and I worked out a deal before I even considered diverting to his island - though if he'd told me that his extra assets were you two, I might have refused on general principle," she added snarkily. "Information is what I'm being paid in right now. Both directly as a result of breaking into the FBI to do some digging on the autopsy on the.. Kim's body... and secondly from Senior himself. I help you guys out here, and when we get back he gives me access to everything he's collected - and more."

"More?" Will pressed.

"More," Shego confirmed, then shrugged nonchalantly. "When I turned over my assets to you, ill gotten or not, as part of the original amnesty deal I negotiated with your boss here, it included some pretty significant funds that I had set aside for specific.. resources."

"Finders and Fixers," Will clarified.

"Yes. Without those funds in place, my agreements with most of them expired when the money ran out. The ones I wasn't paying to not care about things like alignment probably already split when I first made the deal, figuring I'd gone good again and had suddenly become a threat, considering what I knew about them," she added. "Anyway, Senior, though not as active as he once was, still has a great many similar resources - in fact we overlapped quite a bit - and he's getting me information from them, information that I couldn't otherwise buy without re-establishing several years worth of contacts and trust."

Will nodded. "I see," he said, and he fell silent, which Shego appreciated as she returned her attention to confirm the aircraft was still flying normally. "Hey, I wonder where that money's gone now that GJ is shut down. Any idea who's got a look into your assets and funds?" she asked.

Dr Director had tuned them out to stare out the window at the sky and ocean in front of them again, and didn't respond to the question.

"I just wish I knew where she'd been," she muttered. "I feel like if I could work that out, I'd have some idea why she said what she did."

Shego was startled when Dr Director turned back to her suddenly.

"I don't suppose you have any idea where she was in the months she was missing?"

Shego fought down the first impulse to lie through her teeth and considered her words. The likelihood that Betty knew anything about her search was low but... better to be safe than sorry.

"I searched," she said eventually. "I was hired, in fact."

"Wade?" Betty guessed.

"Yes, he set me up with an operating fund and everything. Gave me her last known position, guesses on friends or resources she might be taking advantage of, and kept in touch while I looked."

"And? Did you find her?" Dr Director pressed.

Shego thought back to the dirty, mangled, _broken_ shell of a human she had found in the cardboard boxes in Sydney, and answered truthfully - from a certain point of view. _Thank you Obi-Wan Kenobi._ "No, I didn't find Kim Possible."

Dr Director went limp in her seat, and let out a long sigh.

"I looked for two months through South East Asia, after starting in Japan," Shego said a minute later, after deciding to share some of the story, to see if she could work towards questions that she'd never had a satisfactory answer to. "Found a trail that led through China and into Vietnam but I lost it in Indonesia. Too many tiny islands with places to hide - and by the time I was looking there, it seems she wasn't the bright eyed bushy tailed American Teen Hero she had been when she started."

"What do you mean?" Will asked curiously.

"I mean they started off referring to her as 'the red haired _gaijin'_ in Japan and 'the flame haired _gwailo'_ in China, but by the time I tracked her to Vietnam she'd either started dyeing it or stopped caring about it because they didn't mention her hair color, so I'm kinda guessing it wasn't red anymore. It was only pure luck that I found one guy who recognized her after Wade did a little bit of speculative Photoshop work on an old picture of her, that led me down the coast of Thailand to Indonesia."

Dr Director blinked as she tried to process that information. "Hang on, that doesn't add up at all," she objected. "That doesn't match with the Kim who appeared on the steps of the Capitol. She looked as perfect as Kim _ever_ did."

Shego hid the grin that threatened to form on her face. Her impromptu plan to prod Dr Director slowly towards the truth and get more answers might actually work better than she had anticipated.

"How long ago was this?" Betty demanded, her brows furrowed in thought.

"Three or four months," Shego replied ambivalently.

"Plenty of time for her to be found and fixed up if she'd been roughing it," Will commented.

 _Hmm, not really,_ Shego retorted in her head. _God, if only you two knew.. but I can't tell you. Not without talking it over with Kim first. I think I know what she would say, but I won't expose her to_ any _risk without talking it over with her first._

"You know," Shego said after another several hundred miles had passed in silence. "She was running from something in Japan, but Wade never did tell me what."

Dr Director's head snapped round again. "He didn't tell you?"

Alarm bells went off in Shego's mind. She'd considered pressing Wade for more information when he'd first approached her for help, but his absolute stonewalling at the time had dissuaded her from bringing it up again, even during the long months of fruitless searching through Asia - and she'd not yet had the courage to ask Kim directly since finding her. She knew it wouldn't be a comfortable conversation at all, and worried that pushing her in the wrong way too soon might very well lead to Kim vanishing again, maybe for good this time.

She looked back at her new reluctant allies evenly and kept her face calm. "No - I asked but he refused and... I didn't want to push it."

Betty hesitated for a minute or two, then sighed again. "Well, it's not like she's going to find out I told you - I'm not even sure if she would have known I knew the story."

Shego controlled her face again, refusing to let the irony of the situation bring her any amusement, though internally she was feeling a weird combination of fear and excitement. What she was about to hear could very well explain Kim's disappearance, and considering the trail she'd left through South East Asia to her eventual discovery in a pile of boxes, Shego guessed that it wasn't going to be pretty.

 _Maybe what I learn now, I can use to help her._ A part of her hoped that would be the case - the cynical majority, though, figured it was likely too traumatic to risk using with Kim at all.

"What do you remember about the incident in Tokyo the weekend Kim disappeared?" Betty eventually asked.

Shego, surprised by the question, blinked a few times. "Uhh. Not much. Wade told me there'd been a gas main explosion that had brought down a building - lots of injuries and quite a few fatalities, I think? I ended up starting my search in Kyoto, a few weeks later, I was still flying a little bit under the radar in Japan and didn't see the point of advertising myself in Tokyo at the time - I uh, well... you know my history with the Emperor."

Betty gave her a long, calculating look with her one good eye. "What I'm about to tell you is classified so highly that the US and Japanese governments _will_ kill you if you ever breathe a word of this outside this cockpit. The same goes to you too, Will."

The dead tone in her voice chilled Shego and sent an involuntary shiver running down her spine. "I understand."

Behind her, she felt Will tense slightly, then he too nodded acknowledgement to his boss.

"It was reported as a gas main explosion," Betty said slowly. "But what is known to fewer than fifteen people in the world is that the destruction in Shinjuku was caused by Ronald Stoppable."

 **KP KP KP**

 _C-141 Starlifter, approaching Tokyo, Japan.  
Twelve months ago._

"Are you sure you're ready for this, Kim?" Wade asked her for what felt like the millionth time.

"I'm _sure_ , Wade."

"I'm just saying, Kim..."

"Wade, I'm _fine!_ " she huffed in frustration, and wriggled in her seat to get slightly more comfortable through the small jolts of turbulence that were buffeting the USAF transport she was currently riding in.

"Look, I've cleared every test everyone has done - including my Mom's - and every injury from the last fight is healed - I'm totally 100% ready to go," she told him, ignoring the little wiggle in her stomach which told her she was lying and her body knew it.

She just hoped Wade couldn't sense it. The breathing mask she was talking to him through helped slightly by distorting her voice. As recently as a few months ago, the thought of lying like this to a friend - let alone lying to her mother like she had a few hours ago when she'd told her that she was _not_ going on a mission - would have had her questioning everything she was doing, but things had changed somewhat.

She understood intellectually why everyone was worried. In the last _real_ fight she'd had - against Warmonga and Warhok six months ago - she had ended up sustaining fairly serious injuries after their escape from the battleship, and it was only Ron finally gaining full access to his Mystical Monkey Power that she'd survived the battle and not been a dead trophy.

While she'd appeared to most people to walk the injuries off, it was only through sheer willpower - with a little help from the partially functioning remnants of the battlesuit hidden under her graduation gown - that had kept her upright through Graduation... then she'd struggled through the beach party afterwards and despite putting up a brave front upon making it to the Sloth with Ron, it had become apparent even to him that she was hurting worse than she was letting on.

It had been a few months of enforced rest and recovery since then, with Ron handling the few missions that had popped up, so Wade was just naturally worried she wasn't ready to get back on the horse yet.

 _But I'm Kim Possible, and I can do anything_ , she told herself. _If only that included convincing the butterflies in my stomach that I'm ready_.

"Did you get any more information out of Nakasumi-san?" she asked him in an attempt to distract herself.

"Nope," Wade replied. "I almost get the feeling that he's stonewalling us. I don't know exactly what's so urgent, but he wanted Team Possible in a hurry and that's why I got you on that C-141. Because Ron was in Norway for some reason he wouldn't - or couldn't - tell me, I can't get him there until maybe half an hour after you jump. Hopefully Mr Nakasumi understands."

Kim shook her head. "He said something about exorcising the meat cake demons and decided that I was smart enough not to pry," she replied drily.

"Good move. Anyway, Mr Nakasumi has gone dark and I can't get in touch with either him or his assistant. Right now... you know what I know."

Kim paused. Wade was the best person in the world at getting into systems her opponents didn't want him in.. she felt a weird twinge when the thought coalesced in her mind. Nakasumi _had_ asked for their help, after all.

"Wade, any chance you could, uh, maybe take a quick look into Nakasumi Heavy Industries' systems for... irregularities?"

"You want me to hack the person asking us for help? Since when do we do that?"

Kim shrugged a shoulder. "Since they call us then mysteriously go dark. I _don't_ like walking into traps, unless I know it's a trap ahead of time."

Wade nodded slowly. "In which case you just have to worry that it's a trap trap," he said, and grinned.

"Ugh, don't _even_ try and Ron this up," she complained. "I mean that."

Wade shook with laughter. She was glad he'd had the decency to mute himself before doing it, but the grin was infectious and she found herself smiling back at him.

"Miss Possible?" A voice intruded on her amusement, and she looked up into the face of the C-141's crew chief. The Master Sergeant sketched a lazy salute as she pulled herself to her feet. "We're nearly at your drop point. No idea how your friend pulled us this flight route, but it's getting us to Subic Bay six hours ahead of our original schedule with some pretty important cargo, so letting you HALO into Tokyo is, how do you say it, no big?"

She grinned. "Glad we could help. Just had to trade a few favors in the Diet to get a priority route and an escort."

The Master Sergeant - his name tag read "Robertson", nodded. "Been watching those F-16's play babysitter for an hour now, they picked us up right after the MiG's left us at Sakhalin. Fun job for them, I'll bet. They've been practicing bomber intercepts on us."

Kim shook her head, grinning ruefully. "So _that's_ why they agreed so easily - we're giving them a training run for their pilots."

"Just as long as none of them accidentally pulls the trigger," Roberts replied with another grin. "Also, how did your friend know we had HALO jump capsules?"

"I've stopped asking that, Master Sergeant," she replied. "You learn to just go with it after a while."

He nodded. "I'll take your word for it. Okay, you're good to go to your internal air supply in five, and - you've done this before, right?"

"Yes sir." _More times than most, I would imagine._

"Right, I'll give you one final look over in five, make sure you're good for the jump."

He walked away and Kim set about preparing for her jump, starting with disconnecting the Kimmunicator. "I'll be in touch when I'm on the ground, Wade," she told her tech guru and friend. "If you get anything suspicious on Nakasumi in the meantime, summarize it for me and send it to the Kimmunicator. I'll have a read on my way down." She winked, and Wade laughed.

"Right."

Ten minutes later, she was in the airlock that formed the external part of the HALO jump capsule, bracing herself for the red lighting around her to turn green, when the floor beneath her would open up and drop her out - without having to go through the trouble of depressurizing the main cabin and inconveniencing the rather... unique... cargo. Quite what the thoroughbred mares were doing on board a USAF plane, she'd decided not to ask.

The speaker in her helmet crackled. "Ten seconds, Possible," Robertson told her. "Good flying, safe landing."

"Thank you, Master Sergeant. I'm secured for drop."

Five seconds later, the floor slid open and she took a step out, her hands holding tightly to the straps of the harness that crossed just above her breasts, her feet pointed like she was simply diving into water from thirty feet, rather than air at thirty thousand.

Her position let her knife through the air away from the big transport aircraft into the light of the setting sun, everything a majestic golden orange-red around her. As she looked up where she had come from, she saw the flight of four F-16's shadowing the jet cross above her, one actually rolled inverted, the pilot staring 'up' at her through his canopy.

There was simply no way for Kim to ever actually see his or her face, but she could well imagine the expression on it and the thought in the mind behind it - " _Is she nuts_?"

It was a question that had been asked before, and probably would be again, but right now luxuriating briefly in the beautiful solitude of free fall, Kim found she couldn't care. She focused on her jump training after a few moments of zen, slipping her body out of the initial position, rolling to fall belly first, her arms and legs spread to give her control, the partial webbing between her legs giving her a forward glide that would allow her to travel a surprising distance, given the height she'd been dropped at. She tapped a button on her wrist mounted Kimmunicator, which brought the miniaturized heads up display in her helmet to life.

 _I love Wade's toys_ , she thought with a grin, as she saw a superimposed wire frame model of the city appear over the real Tokyo below her, eliminating any chance of her missing her landing zone - the roof of the Nakasumi Heavy Industries head office in downtown Shinjuku, which the HUD lit up in bright, flashing red.

With plenty of other tall towers in the vicinity and no time to study them beforehand, without Wade's guidance system she'd have been forced to aim for open parkland then hitch a ride to the tower. _Slow, and inefficient_ , Wade had said. _Much faster to just land on the roof._

Of course, _he_ wasn't the one actually doing the jump, but it wasn't anything Kim hadn't done before. Precision parachute landings weren't the challenge for her they were for Ron, making her momentarily glad that he wasn't coming down with her.

 _He'd be screaming the whole way_ , she thought, then immediately rejected it as both unfair and unworthy. Whatever his flaws, through thick and thin he'd stood beside or behind (or below) her, and without him she'd have failed dozens of times. She owed him more than just her life - without him she might never have gotten started in the hero business at all, might never have found this calling. Her BFBF continued to surprise everyone around him, even her. _Potential Boy indeed_ , she thought with a grin.

She pushed those thoughts to one side as her HUD indicated she'd passed below six thousand feet. Falling at more than 150 feet per second, almost 120 miles per hour, Kim knew she had less than five seconds to deploy her chute before the automated deployment system mounted into her wrist and harness activated. She pulled the ripcord before that occurred, and as always felt that sharp snap of the harness jolting her to a more manageable descent speed, snapping tight in across her body, including a few uncomfortable places. She pushed that temporary pain aside and focused on guiding her parachute on to the Nakasumi building, flaring at the last second to execute a perfect running landing.

 _Perfect_ , she congratulated herself, yanking hard on the control wires to collapse the parachute before it could catch any breeze and pull her off the roof. Once that was done, she wriggled out of the harness, set about recovering the parachute into the pack it had deployed from, stowed it securely under a vent along with the helmet, and turned to the door that led down from the roof.

She tapped her Kimmunicator. "Wade, I'm on the roof. Jump was a piece of cake. The lock here is electronic, not physical. I assume you're inside the Nakasumi systems already?"

"I am," he replied. "Though I admit I'm not entirely comfortable with this."

"You told Nakasumi I would be arriving on the roof, right?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Well there's nobody here to greet me which means one of two things: something's wrong, or it's a trap. In either case, I feel justified looking into things to find out what the hell is going on, not to mention just getting off this roof."

She hadn't intended to let her frustration get the better of her, or take it out on Wade, but he'd frowned at her and hacked into the security system to open the door nonetheless, without ever looking happy like he did hacking Drakken or Dementor's systems.

"Wade, I'm sorry I snapped at you," she said as she slipped through the door and into the building. "You know I think you're the best, right?"

He smiled weakly at her. "Yeah, Kim. I know. I'm just worried about you."

"I'm _fine_ Wade. Just wish I knew where everyone was. This place is deserted - it's not even 8pm local time, it should be packed."

"That's weird. I'm checking the security cameras and I'm not seeing anyone, anywhere, not even in the security rooms. It kind of looks like the whole building is empty. Wait… got an elevator coming up to your floor!"

"Trap?" Kim asked.

"Trap," Wade replied.

Kim dove to one side as the elevator door opened, disgorging a group of maybe ten men, all dressed in conservative black business suits that were offset by the various weapons in their hands - knives, clubs, and several near the rear with guns. Unsure if they'd seen her, she crab walked sideways behind several desks, working her way back around to the stairs to the roof she'd come in on.

 _If I can just get to the roof with a few seconds to slip the harness on_..

The leader barked an instruction in Japanese that Kim interpreted as " _split up and search for the_ gaijin", because that's exactly what they did. Two walked right past her to the roof access door and took up positions at it.

Kim cursed under her breath, and tapped a couple of buttons on the Kimmunicator to silence it and bring up a keypad on which she typed a brief message to Wade.

 _Hostiles encountered. Need floor maps ASAP_ , she sent to him. _Warn Ron, get him to cancel his jump._

A moment later, the Kimmunicator screen changed into the floor map of the level she was on, and then flicked through the two below her as well for good measure.

It took her a second to find the best distraction - a set of security stairs on the far side of the building that were fairly well hidden by the layout of the floor, not in a direct line of sight with the bank of elevators or the roof stairs.

 _Need north side fire stairwell alarms set off_ , she sent, and waited five seconds for Wade's terse _Done_ in reply.

A moment later the alarms that started sounding drew half a dozen men to that stairwell. She'd been hoping for the whole group to fall for the feint but she could handle the others for now. Creeping behind the desks she grinned and clenched her fists in anticipation.

 _My first real fight sinc_ e… It took an effort to shove away the wave of fear that threatened to overcome her at the sudden adrenaline fueled flashback that surged through her. _I am not afraid!_ she angrily told herself. Focusing the cold feeling in her stomach into anger, she dove from cover into a roll that took her directly between the two sentries left guarding the roof access.

She swept both of them with a single sweep and her spinning back fist caught one in the temple as he fell, smashing him to the ground and taking him out of the fight instantly. She groaned as his gun ended up clattering down the stairwell noisily, but pushed that from her mind as the second man rose to one knee, his pistol swinging in line with her.

She snapped a kick at his right hand, connecting solidly with his wrist and sending the pistol flying further into the floor. He scowled, and reached into a pocket for a folding butterfly knife, which he held low and tight against his side.

She switched her feet, moving from left foot forward to right, and bounced twice on the balls of her feet, then stepped forward to launch a straight kick towards his face. He stepped back, avoiding the kick with ease, then lunged forward at her.

Having anticipated both the dodge and the counter, Kim tucked her legs beneath her, sinking out of the way of the knife thrust with ease, snapping a fist up into the wrist. Reflexively his hand opened, dropping the knife into her waiting hand as she turned the crouch into a stable platform with one hand, and lashed upwards with the same foot as before.

This time she connected solidly, folding him around her foot as the breath left him in a rush. He sank to the ground slowly, and she hastened his exit from consciousness with a fist to his jaw.

She turned for the doorway back to the roof, only to recoil in surprise. A black garbed ninja stood barring her way, and as she growled in frustration two more filled the doorway behind him, including a very large sumo ninja she recognized from a previous encounter. _Drakken's Sumo ninja!_ _No way!_

"Get outta my way."

"Kim Possible?" the leader said, pulling his mask off. "What are you doing here? Only the worthless pretender has been showing up lately.. you weren't supposed to be here!"

"Too bad, Fukushima," she growled, recognizing him. "Move aside or.."

She never got a chance to deliver the rest of her ultimatum, as the rogue ninja dashed forward to attack her. She dove backwards, avoiding the overhead slash of his sword and rolling easily across the floor and up over two desks as he pressed the attack.

As she did a backwards handspring across the second desk, she improvised, using her rotation to kick two coffee mugs, one still partially filled, at the onrushing ninja, surprising him. The cold coffee sloshed over his face as the mug bounced off his temple, halting his charge momentarily. A high pitched laugh from the sumo ninja elicited a scowl from the rogue ninja, and he suddenly turned to the other two. " _Kanojo o tsukamimasu! Isoide_!"

Kim grinned as the sumo ninja and his smaller companion both moved forward. She went evasive across the open plan office, diving up and over partitions and sprinting for the far side of the floor before doubling back down the other side, slipping between the goons coming back from the stairwell investigating the new noises.

She threw punches and kicks as she went, turning herself into a one-woman wrecking ball. Mugs, pen holders, even picture frames became improvised weapons, one of the latter a heavy metal frame that she sent flying into the forehead of one man, knocking him flat on his backside. When she realized that the ninja were also being attacked by the suited bad guys, she grinned again and used the confusion to slip into a corner, roll below a pair of desks, then sprinted for the roof stairs.

Fukushima shouted from across the room as he spotted her, and unleashed two ninja stars at her, but Kim saw his throw from the corner of her eyes and anticipated, diving forward, tucking and rolling as they passed above her. She came up from the roll and dove again through the door, then sprinted up the stairs with Fukushima and the surprisingly delicate footfalls of the sumo ninja right on her heels.

She bashed the rooftop door open with her shoulder and broke right, hurdling the air conditioning units with ease until she reached the location she'd stored her chute, snatching it and the helmet up without even breaking stride. Two more ninja stars came her way, forcing her to duck as she pulled the harness half on around her torso and waist, then she slid to a stop behind a waist high duct of some sort for the two seconds it took to pull each foot up and through the harness straps.

She was up and running again a moment later, and before either Fukushima or the sumo ninja could react, she sprinted up to the edge and kicked off the wall, spinning as she did so to flip them the bird as she went.

Kim laughed openly at the shocked look on his face for the split second she had before falling out of sight. She grabbed at the chute quick release, and hoped like hell it wouldn't snag on deploying and slam her straight back into the building she'd just so stylishly left… and it didn't.

"Wade," she called, tapping the Kimmunicator back into loud mode as soon as she got her parasail style canopy under control. "Had to take another jump, this time off the roof. Ron's old friend Fukushima showed up!"

"I caught your exit on the rooftop cameras," he replied, barely able to suppress his amusement. "I give the dive a 9, but I think I'll edit you flipping him the bird out before letting anyone else get a look at it, though. Don't want to ruin your image."

"Wade," she groaned.

"Hey, you do have to think about your image. I don't recall you doing that before to _anyone_."

Kim shrugged mentally. "It felt like the appropriate thing to do," she said, as she guided the chute through the heavy updrafts around the tall buildings, riding one up and around another building, gaining more height and allowing herself to glide far enough to make an easy landing in the middle of a park, skillfully avoiding the trees around her. "Okay, I'm down again, ground level this time. Got any suggestions for me?"

"Get to Golden Gai, it's about a mile northwest of your location - I'm sending you a map now. I've got a line on an old friend of yours in the area who might be able to help you out."

Kim nodded. "Thanks Wade. Did you let Ron know to avoid the roof? I'm pretty sure Fukushima was waiting for him, I think he said something about me not being supposed to be there."

"I've been trying," Wade replied, suddenly serious. "But he's not answering his com, must be a glitch somewhere. He was due to jump any minute."

Kim froze. "Wade, if he lands on that rooftop, he's going to be caught by Fukushima. I have to go back."

"Are you sure that's a good idea? Ron… Ron can kinda handle things, y'know?"

Kim blinked, then caught on to his meaning. "Are you kidding? You call that handling things? He can't do that to Fukushima!"

She turned and looked back to the building that she'd jumped from, and started running toward it. A couple of minutes later, she reached the exterior wall of the park, sprinting up and onto the top of the concrete wall with ease. She pulled her trusty hairdryer grapple and aimed it at the roof of the building across the road, and when it lodged in, she hit the retract, holding on as it reeled her in and up to the building.

"Kim… I think Ron just landed," Wade said as she hit the wall, absorbing the impact with her legs. "I saw a flash of him on the rooftop cameras. Hurry!"

Kim clambered over the top of the roof, retrieved the hook and reset it in the grappling gun. As she turned towards the roof of the Nakasumi building, she suddenly had to shield her eyes from a massive bright blue glow.

"Oh my god," she whispered, as the blue glow started descending through the building, flashing out at each floor.

Kim watched in horror as the glow hit the ground floor and the glass lobby exploded silently, the shards chaotically catching and reflecting the blue glow everywhere like a million spinning disco balls.

"Ron!" she said in a strangled whisper. "What have you _done_?"

"Kim?" Wade asked hesitantly from her wrist.

Finally the sound of the explosion reached her, and the roar even at this distance was immense. It was followed almost instantly by a groan, and Kim's horror only deepened as she saw the top floors of the building suddenly start to collapse.

"WADE!" she screamed. "THE WHOLE BUILDING IS COMING DOWN!"

She wasn't sure why, but she started running again, but toward the falling building, diving off the roof she was on, the the micro hook on the grapple instinctively latching to a convenient anchor point on the next building over to pull her up and around higher again. The new building momentarily hid her sight of the collapse, but as she swung up to the roof level, the awful sound grew even louder as more floors pancaked on top of each other and fell.

For a moment she was sure it would stay contained within the building, almost like a controlled demolition, but the falling tonnes of steel and concrete found an impediment and the whole mass shifted suddenly to one side, out over the street below and onto nearby buildings, tonnes of concrete and glass and steel slamming into buildings, cars, buses and pedestrians with devastating results.

Kim didn't - couldn't - look away until the choking rush of dust billowing in all directions eventually reached her and she had to hide her face in her sleeve. How long she stood there, unable to see, unable to breathe properly, she didn't know. Eventually, her senses slowly returned and she realised Wade was hollering at her from the Kimmunicator on her wrist.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Are you okay?" he repeated.

"I… I dunno, Wade. I.. I haven't seen anything like this since.. I mean the whole building just..." She trailed off as her mind started spinning and her stomach twisted. The sudden nausea rapidly became an overwhelming tide then she was retching, vomiting bile and what little was in her stomach in great wracking heaves.

Kim was familiar with death. She'd seen it before, usually as a result of major natural disasters. Floods, earthquakes, bushfires, they all left death in their wake, but she usually arrived after it and focused on the rescue efforts she was involved with so she'd be able to block the worst of it. Even the most intense bushfires, she'd been so busy _saving_ people that she never focused on those who had already died until afterwards.

That was nothing compared to this. Never before had she seen it happen to to many people, just in front of her, utterly unable to do anything about it, and worse, _much_ worse, knowing exactly who was responsible for it.

 _How could he?_ she wondered as her stomach heaved again. _How could he_ do _this?_

She felt light headed and nearly fell, grabbing the edge of the rooftop to hold her as she swayed forward, unable to stay on her feet.

"Kim?" Wade asked cautiously.

"Wade.. I.." she croaked. "I need to get down there. There are people… there have to be people… I need to… I can help."

"Kim, you're not making any sense. I think you should stay put and wait for the emergency services. They're trained for this sort of thing, you're not."

"No!" she shouted. "No I can't sit here and do nothing. Anything is possible for a Possible, Wade. I _have_ to help them, I have to… you didn't see." She trailed off.

"Didn't see what?" Wade asked.

"The light," Kim whispered. "The blue light that broke the building."

She looked away from the Kimmunicator as she saw his face fall, as he realized what she meant.

"No, I don't believe it," he whispered. "He wouldn't do that. Not _Ron_."

"I saw it," Kim whispered back, as she set a grapple hook in the edge of the wall and clicked the hairdryer control to reverse, ready to lower herself to ground level. "I saw it, Wade. It was Ron. He brought the building down."

As she reached the ground, she had to fight through the crowds of people running away from the disaster area, until she found the first crushed car. It was clear instantly that there was no way anyone inside it had survived, the massive piece of concrete and steel beam had landed almost square on the roof and crushed it to waist height. Sickened, but with nothing left for her nausea to bring up, Kim turned towards one of the other buildings that had taken damage from debris.

At that exact moment, a bright blue light caught her eye and she turned to see Ron, bathed in that awful blue light, emerge from the rubble of the Nakasumi tower.

She froze for just long enough to see the inhuman blue glow in his eyes fade to their normal brown, and as they caught sight of her they opened impossibly wide. His mouth started to open...

Kim ran, ran faster than she could ever remember running, and she kept running for longer than she ever thought she could. Even when she heard someone - Wade or.. the other person.. she didn't know and didn't care which, call her name, she kept running. Eventually, she slapped at her wrist and the Kimmunicator dropped away to smash on the ground, forgotten instantly as the young woman who didn't want to be Kim Possible any more ran and never looked back.

* * *

 **A/N** : Well, there you have it, folks. Whew. This flashback was honestly one of the hardest to write so far - I actually really quite like Ron. Don't worry, he'll be back... but there had to be a reason Kim was where she is at the start, had to be a reason Ron is currently MIA (I've dropped more than a few hints to where), and why everyone other than Shego and Wade thought KP was missing before her 'reappearance' and apparent death. I don't recommend unfastening those belts, though. We're not coming to a full and complete stop yet! The action continues next chapter as Shego, Betty, and Will make it to Washington, and Kim... finally opens up about how she's dealing - or not dealing with, more like - the events that set her on her current path.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note** : After a fun long weekend up the coast for a friend's Bucks party, I've recovered sufficiently to proof and post Chapter 7. This crazy juggernaut keeps on building momentum - and now that we know what happened a year ago in Tokyo that sent Kim running, why don't we hear from the young woman herself? Also, how will Betty, Will and Shego cope with having to work together to infiltrate the FBI and investigate the 'body' of Kim Possible? Will Betty and Will discover the secret Shego's still keeping from them? Keep reading to find out!

 **Standard Disclaimer:** The various characters from the Kim Possible series are all owned by Disney. All registered trade names property of their respective owners. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

* * *

 **Kim Possible: Shadow Plays**

 **Chapter Seven:**

 _Sydney, Australia._

Kim controlled her breathing with a superhuman effort and felt herself slowly begin to calm down from the edge of the panic attack that her recitation of the events in Tokyo had nearly driven her to. She stared out of the large windows overlooking the Sydney CBD and looked past the buildings, focusing on the glittering blue water in the harbour in an effort to find calmness again.

She hadn't been expecting to talk about it like this, not in her first meeting with the psychologist Shego had found and finally convinced her to see. She wasn't sure how she'd gotten started, but once she had, the rest had flowed like a river bursting through a levee, and even through the trauma of reliving the experience, there was a tiny part of relief that she'd finally managed to actually get it all out.

 _I wish Shego were here, though_ , she thought. _Maybe it gets easier the second time?_

Across from her, Dr Katherine ("please, call me Kate") Watson let out a slow breath of her own, then leaned back in her chair. As Kim watched, the young Aboriginal woman visibly collected herself.

"If you want to stop there, it's okay with me, Kim," she said as she stood, smoothed out her pencil skirt, and stepped over to the water cooler at the side of the office. She pulled out two cups and filled each with water before returning to the desk.

Kim stared down at her hands, which were gripping the arms of her chair tight enough to turn white. With a conscious effort, she let go, only to find them clasping instinctively tight in her lap. "I thought you'd say that since I've started talking about it, I need to keep going."

"Not necessarily. It's entirely up to you." Kate extended a hand with one of the cups towards her newest patient. "To be honest, I wasn't sure whether you'd be willing to tell me about it this soon, but you seemed like you needed to get that off your chest. How far you want to go, as I said, is all up you. I'll try not to push you to say more than you're ready and comfortable with... unless I think it'll help you work through something that you need to."

Kim accepted the proffered water and drank it down in large, desperate gulps as she realized suddenly how dry her throat was. After putting the cup back on the desk, she considered something else that caused her to involuntarily let out an unhappy laugh.

"Something amusing in what I just said?" Kate asked.

"No… not funny exactly… I just realized, you're the only person in the world who I've told all this to. You're the only one who knows the truth. How screwed up is that?"

Kate raised an eyebrow at that. "Don't you think other people have worked out some of it?" she asked gently at Kim's inquisitive look.

Kim shrugged after thinking about it for a moment. "Wade has recordings of the conversation and what I told him, sure, but I dropped the Kimmunicator.. and I don't know if anyone talked to Ron about his side of it, but that's not what I meant."

"What did you mean then, Kim? What truth?"

"The truth that I'm a fraud, that I couldn't handle it. That I'm a fraud." She felt her cheeks burn.

A sudden urge rose within her to throw herself from the chair and flee the office, flee the city; to run away again, run away from everything she'd just admitted and away from her shame, and she tried to suppress it with a shudder.

 _How would Shego feel to come back to Sydney and find me gone?_ Kim asked herself. It wasn't hard to imagine her anger, and the surge of fear that followed it was suppressed as quickly as the flight urge. _I can do this, I can.. I just.._

Kate had blinked in surprise for a few moments, during her internal debate, then the dark-skinned woman leaned forward, staring intently at her. "I don't believe that you're a fraud, and neither do you, not really."

"What?"

"If you _really_ believed that you wouldn't be here in this office. We wouldn't be having this conversation." Kate gave her a knowing look. "I know another person who doesn't believe it either: Shego."

Kim looked up at the unassuming and nonthreatening woman sitting across from her like she'd slapped her across the cheek.

"Oh, I know who she is, don't worry about that, we do get the news here, occasionally," Kate said. "I knew who she was from pretty much the moment she sat down opposite me on a lunch break and asked if I wanted to help save the world."

Kim looked down at her lap again, another blush rising to her cheeks, and the therapist laughed lightly.

"I told her that I didn't think that was her thing, and she said that things had changed, that she needed my help - as long as I knew how to keep my mouth shut."

"Did she threaten you?" Kim asked suspiciously, her eyes narrowing.

"She didn't have to. When she said she'd found a certain missing teen heroine, a few things clicked into place. You don't need to worry about me telling anyone you're not dead, by the way," she added with another gentle smile. "I'd say it's probably the last thing you need right now, but we sometimes don't get given a choice of burdens we're asked to bear."

Kim looked up again at that, her mind losing track of the story she'd been telling of the events in Tokyo, and after. "Shego seems to think I don't have to bear it.. that I could use my 'death' to give it all away and hide in safety, anonymous for the rest of my life."

Kate considered that for a moment, then nodded somewhat reluctantly. "You _could_ do that, sure, but that would be a different kind of burden that you'd have to manage. Staying anonymous like that isn't easy, by all accounts. Escaped prisoners, people who try to hide from abusive exes, they seem to find it hard to stay totally hidden forever. How long would you last until you slipped up, or the guilt you'd feel would break you all over again?"

"Guilt?"

The therapist nodded. "I think you'd feel it pretty quickly - and not just because you'd worry yourself about your family not knowing the truth of your survival, but because you'd want to keep helping people. Not because you're paid to, or because you're forced to, but because you think it's the _right thing to do_ \- and because sometimes you're the only one who _can_ do it. Do you know how rare and wonderful that is, Kim? Because it truly is, but it's also a major vulnerability."

Kim considered those words for a moment, before Kate continued.

"I don't think you could stop helping people any more than I could stop myself being Aboriginal. It's not about what we do, it's about who we _are_." She stopped and looked intently at Kim, who squirmed slightly under that assessing look. "But because what you do is a vulnerability and a burden, you have to work out how to protect yourself while you carry it. For a long time you had someone to help you carry it, but the past twelve months, ever since Tokyo, you've been carrying it on your own - despite having someone who clearly cares about you trying to help you."

Kim looked down at her lap and was silent for a long time. "I'm not sure I'm ready for that conversation yet," she said finally.

"Why not?" Kate asked gently.

"Because the last person to ' _care for me_ ' brought half a city block down when.." She trailed off and shot the therapist a suspicious scowl. "You set me up."

Kate nodded. "It's interesting that you seem to only talk about it when you're angry. I think you're still stuck being angry at Ron, and that's why you can't move on."

"Of course I'm angry at Ron!" Kim hollered, testing the limits of the soundproofing in the office. "He. Killed. He crossed the line, and killed people with his powers."

"Killing doesn't automatically make him a bad person," Kate said.

"Oh?"

Ignoring the low, angry tone in Kim's voice, the therapist pressed on. "Sometimes it's unavoidable, Kim. I think you know that, deep down, but you've never had to do it, so you reject it out of hand. Soldiers in a war kill other soldiers, and sometimes, there are civilian casualties. I'm not saying it's right, or that it should happen.. but it does. Police officers sometimes have to use lethal force to protect bystanders... in some countries, doctors are allowed to assist a life ending when there is no hope of recovery, only a long slow, painful death. All those people take lives and you can't possibly think _all_ of them are bad people."

"But.."

"Can you at least accept that people who aren't Kim Possible might not have another option?" Kate asked quietly, and Kim froze.

 _What does she mean?_ she thought to herself, her mind suddenly racing. _Do I really hold myself to a level higher than anyone else by refusing to use lethal weapons, and then judge others for not holding themselves to_ my _standards? How is that fair?_

She shook her head. "There's always another way."

"Is there, or do you just have to believe that to preserve your view of the world?"

Kim felt her anger rising, but Kate cut her off before she could get truly upset.

"Why did he do it?" she asked. "From what I know of Ron as a person, there's no way he did it intentionally."

The silence dragged out, and eventually Kim's shoulders slumped. "Ron always had control issues with the MMP. When he beat Warhok and Warmonga -"

"Ron beat the aliens?" Kate interrupted.

Kim frowned. "Yes. I know that's not the official story.. nobody else really saw apart from Shego, but I was.. disabled.." A shudder ran through her as the feeling of helplessness returned. "I was out of it, my skull about to become an alien monster's trophy, and Ron suddenly hulked out.. and threw them both into their own ship."

"The ship that exploded a _mile_ high?" Kate asked.

"Oh yeah."

"Oh… wow. So... you're saying he never trained in the power? I admit, this is slightly outside my three hours yoga a week expertise but.. you spend hours practicing martial arts didn't you, to be as good as you are?"

Kim flushed, slightly embarrassed. "Not.. exactly. I was a quick study. A _ridiculously_ quick study, by all accounts."

"Okay, but you still had to train a bit when you learnt a new style, yes?"

She nodded.

"But Ron never did? Despite having world changing superpowers?"

"I guess I never really thought about it. I mean, he trained some in Yam- a school for it, in Japan. I think - he.. he didn't like talk about it much."

"Can you blame him? The power to destroy city blocks, uncontrolled inside of you, that has to be pretty scary, right?"

Kim knew they were talking about Ron but her mind couldn't help but flick to another superpowered individual who could probably level city blocks if she really tried.

 _She must have been so careful all the time.. one wrong slip and it'd be bye bye Kim Possible_. That thought dragged another along with it: _Was I ever really that good? At any of it?_

"Hey, Earth to Kim," Kate said, leaning forward and tapping Kim's shoulder.

"Oh, sorry. Was just thinking. Lost track of the conversation."

Kate raised one eyebrow delicately.

Kim sighed. "I was just thinking.. Shego.. if she wanted to, she could bring buildings down with her powers, and yet, for all the times we've fought, she's never unleashed everything she has. I saw her cut through the legs of one of the Lowardian tripods, during the invasion, and that metal alloy is beyond way anything we've made on earth."

"And now you're wondering if she took it easy on you?" Kate asked.

Kim nodded. "Yeah… and I'm wondering if I was ever really that good."

Kate shrugged. "The only person who can really give you an absolutely honest answer to that is her, Kim. But she wasn't the only person you've fought - I know I've seen footage of you taking other villains on, and doing pretty well against them. The English fella who had his hands replaced.." Kate shuddered slightly. "Monkey Fist?"

"Yeah, I fought him a few times," Kim said. "Though he's really more Ron's nemesis than mine."

"But you did fight him, and he was no slouch with martial arts, no? Then there was the mad golfer? Killigan?"

Kim nodded again. "Okay, so I was good against them, but.. I always tried to measure myself against Shego. And I thought I was pretty good, but she's a genuine superpowered villain, and now I'm pretty sure she's been going easy on me."

"Again, I think you need to ask her about that. How could you know for sure?"

"Because I'm still here," Kim said quietly. "She could have.."

"You can't know that for sure until you actually _talk_ to her," Kate interrupted. "This cycle of self doubt, wondering whether you're actually good enough to keep doing it? Whether you can stop people from dying.. this is part of why you ran from Tokyo, why you never went home, isn't it?"

"I… I think so," Kim admitted eventually. "I think.. well, when I saw Ron, and he wasn't.. Ron. He was something else. And I got so scared that he was going to do to me what he did to Warhok and Warmonga, and I wouldn't be able to stop him."

Kate nodded. "But you had to know that wasn't the real Ron."

"Maybe intellectually?" Kim shrugged. "But emotionally, after having only survived the fight with the Lowardians because of his powers, to then see those powers turned to destruction… I couldn't bear it. I couldn't even look at him without seeing the blood on his hands, and some part of it belonged on mine too because I _didn't_ _stop him_... and I didn't know how to deal with that, so I left. I walked away and I didn't stop running until I ended up here, in Sydney."

"In what sort of condition?"

"Not a very good one," Kim admitted.

"Shego implied you were pretty heavily banged up."

"She did?" _Oh_. _I wonder how much she told her._

"What happened, Kim?" Kate asked.

"I stopped caring about myself, at some point," Kim said. _In for a penny, I suppose._ "I.. I kept trying to right the wrongs I saw along the way, though. I don't know why, but you're right, I can't just turn it off."

She blinked, then carried on in a dull monotone as her memories flooded back again. "I got into a knife fight on my third night in Shanghai, nearly died before a friendly woman who spoke no English took me in and mended me up. Took a while.. Decided it wasn't safe there after pissing off the local Triad lord's son in the rematch - this time I was ready for his knife trick and he wasn't ready for my left foot - so I left and kept moving south.. but every place I went, I found more bad things happening to good people, and I kept trying to help but getting hurt cause I was getting slower.."

Kate watched as Kim rolled her hands over each other repeatedly.

"I broke a couple of ribs in Vietnam, I tore the posterior cruciate ligament in my knee during a fight in Laos, I broke some fingers and my patella in Cambodia, and then struggled through Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia breathing through a twice broken nose... I made it to Australia, I don't even remember how - I think I stowed away on a cargo freighter - and wandered down the east coast, surviving by pure luck, until I ended up in Sydney.. I got into a fight and aggravated a bunch of the injuries that had never properly healed and figured that was the end of it. I.. I kinda just crawled into a corner and waited to die.. and then _she_ found me."

Kim shuddered and angrily brushed away the tears falling from her eyes.

"What was it about?"

"Huh?"

"The last fight? Why did you get into it? Surely you had to know your body was on the verge.."

Kim shrugged. "I saw a guy hitting a girl - his girlfriend, his wife, someone random, I don't know - but he hit her hard enough to knock her to the ground, then when he went to kick her I just.. sortof.. exploded. But everything added up, so while I got some good hits in when he was surprised, he was bigger and stronger and I took a beating."

Kate shook her head. "Even when you're alone, on the run from your old life, and injured, you still put your own life on the line to protect someone else who can't. Do you have any idea how amazing that is?"

Kim shrugged again, and kept looking at her hands. "Is it?"

"Do you not think so?"

"I sometimes.. It's just ever since I started this hero thing, every time I found a problem, I solved it with my fists. Every time. Then during the time I was running, every time I did it, it just made things worse - for me, and sometimes for the person I was trying to help… so now I can't help wondering if the only thing I'll ever bring to the world is violence - and if that's true, what's the point?"

Kate reached across the desk and grabbed Kim's hands, holding them tightly in her own. The contrast of black and pink skin startled Kim momentarily.

"I've seen these hands do other things, Kim," Kate said. "Weren't you the one who rescued half a dozen kids from croc infested floodwaters in the Northern Territory a few years back? What about the people you saved after that avalanche in Nepal? The broken dam in South America that you fixed, averting a catastrophe and saving dozens of villages? How many lives have you _saved_ with these hands?"

Kate held the hands up between them.

"Everything we do is a choice, Kim. You have _always_ had the choice on how to use these hands - and you've always chosen to use them to help people - sometimes by rescuing them, sometimes by protecting them against people who would hurt them, with the violence you're trained to use. Both uses are admirable, both are exceptional, and both are worth more than you'll ever know. You've _inspired_ people, Kim. I hope you know that."

Kim looked at her hands again, then over them into her therapist's eyes. "You really think so?"

"I _know_ so," Kate replied forcefully, and then smiled ruefully. "My younger sister went through an 'I want to be Kim Possible' phase at fifteen, not long after you first started out."

"How did that work out?" Kim asked curiously, surprised that a young Aboriginal girl in Australia would want to emulate her life.

"She's in her first year of med school," Kate replied proudly. "When she realized she didn't quite have the, uh, _physical aptitude_ you do, she went looking for other ways to help people, and she settled on medicine." Kate grinned. "She keeps talking about neurosurgery as a specialization.. I wonder where she got _that_ idea from."

Kim couldn't help but smile back at that.. and it got her thinking again. _Maybe… maybe she's right. Maybe I can do more than just hurt with these hands. Maybe I just have to try.._

Kate nodded. "There we go, I saw that. Something changed. No, don't tell me just yet. Work through it a little bit by yourself - or better yet, with Shego - and next time we can talk about it."

Kim nodded, and stood to leave. Before she could move, Kate came around the desk and enfolded her in a hug. "I'm here whenever you need, Kim, I promise."

"Thank you." For the first time in months, the weight on her shoulders felt a little lighter. For the first time, the smile on her face felt almost genuine, and not a facade because it was expected of her.

She slipped out of the office and headed back towards the hotel, taking a detour to walk around the Opera House and through Circular Quay, enjoying the sun on her face and mingling with the street vendors and artists and pedestrians, never noticing the two men who stepped into the flow of foot traffic a few dozen meters behind her and followed her.

 **KP KP KP**

The second she stepped off the ramp of the VTOL, Shego shuddered and had to make a real effort to stop herself from marching back up and giving yet another variation of the 'don't touch anything' speech she'd given three or four times already.

 _They're probably going to ignore me no matter what, so why bother? Ugh._

She made her way to the far edge of the rooftop, and only then did she sneak a peek behind her, where a faint shimmer, like a heat mirage, was all that gave away the presence of the jet under the active camouflage she'd spent so much time acquiring and retooling to work on her jet.

Wade had chosen a good location for her to set down, near enough to the FBI headquarters to get to the target rooftop with minimal effort - thanks to a couple of toys he was delivering to her that Kim would have been far more familiar with. She looked up as a low buzzing signaled the arrival of a quadrotor carrying two packages. One she opened to reveal a grapple gun disguised as a hairdryer, the other, smaller package, she opened to discover an earpiece and handset.

All three items in a very familiar green and black with a harlequin pattern.

Snorting in amusement, she slipped the handset into her ankle pocket and the earpiece into her ear, tapping it once to sync it with the handset.

"Wade?" she asked.

"You got my delivery," he said in her ear. "Good."

"Nice touch with the color scheme on the equipment."

He laughed. "You like? This is a new model phone and hands free earpiece too, I was going to trial them with Kim but this seems like a good opportunity for a real field test. Hey, I was thinking of calling this one the Shegofon, what do you think?"

She growled, and he laughed again, and she joined in.

"By the way, I re-tested that grapple line, it should be good for you."

"Should?" she asked curiously, looking out over the well lit DC skyline toward her target, her eyes momentarily distracted by a few of the other landmarks she knew well.

"I'm not 100% certain how much you weigh, and I wasn't game to ask, so I doubled the strength and reserve I had for Kim. The trade off is the cable's a bit thicker so you have less total line to play with, and the heads need more to grab hold of, especially the magnetic ones."

She sighed. "I'm not sure whether to be amused or annoyed that you estimated that I'm double Kim's _normal_ weight," she said, stressing the normal. "Especially since I definitely recall the buffoon catching a ride with her on the same cable."

Wade's grin was clear through his reply. "Safety margin - would rather not have an angry Shego coming after me for making it too weak."

"Fine," she sighed. "Well, time to get this show on the road. Before I do this, can you set me up a second link back my VTOL systems from the earpiece, so I can talk to Bets and Will? And then give me a way to mute only that line by tapping the earpiece?"

There was a moment of quiet, broken by the sound of Wade's typing, then a ping in her ear. "Done, you're on."

"Bets, Will, you hearing this?"

"Reluctantly," Betty Director quipped.

"Don't forget I can still set off the self-destruct remotely if you get too mouthy."

"Are we to believe you'd really risk a self destruct on your own VTOL?" Will asked blandly. "That's a very Drakken thing to do, not your style at all."

Shego sighed. "You're no fun. Right... assuming I don't screw this up totally.. I'll be on the roof in five minutes."

It was closer to eight, and Shego was breathing harder than she would have liked, but she made it to the roof of the FBI HQ building without being spotted - she hoped - and stashed the grapple gun next to the rooftop vent she planned on using while she opened it with a burst of her plasma.

"Christ, this is so cliched," she complained a few minutes later as she crawled through the building. "How on earth did Kim manage to do this - she must have been bloody liquid to fit through some of these ventilation systems."

She heard a muffled conversation between Betty and Will, and assumed that they were covering the microphone. The muted snicker confirmed that suspicion, and she growled. "I can hear you, you know."

"So much for the stealthy approach," Betty mocked, and Shego sighed. She tapped the earpiece to mute and cut them out of the conversation, and groaned. "Remind me why we're working with them again?" she asked Wade.

"Cause they might be useful?" he asked carefully.

"Fine. Where to from here?"

"Down three more levels. The morgue facility is, for some reason, on the twenty first floor, not in the basement."

Shego nodded to herself, and continued on. Five minutes later and several deactivated security systems, she was in the vents on the right floor, and starting to feel the chill. "Okay, it's getting colder in here. Must be near the right spot," she said.

"Floor plan shows there's a series of outer offices, probably for the ME and their staff, and then the examining room and morgue proper are deeper inside," Betty told her. "There's a guard station at the elevator, too, but if you're where I think you are, you should be out of his line of sight when you drop in."

Shego nodded, then opened the grate with one claw and a small application of plasma. She dropped into the darkened office and crouched low, scanning around her. "No cameras in this office, and no sign of security. Wade.. can you get into the camera system?"

"I thought you'd never ask," Wade replied.

"I didn't want to.. you know.. encourage you to break the law."

"It's fine," he replied. "I've pushed the boundaries of legality before.. this is for a good cause. For Kim."

Betty chimed in. "For what it's worth, I could probably offer you a temporary consultant role in GJ, and order you to hack in."

Wade laughed gently. "I'm not sure that would do me any good now, sorry."

Betty sighed audibly. "True enough."

"Shego, the guard on your floor is just finishing a round, he's heading back to the station by the elevator."

"Right," she whispered, and waited a further minute after he left to open the door to the office carefully and slip down towards the examining room. As she got there, she reached up and tapped the earpiece to cut Betty out of the conversation again.

"Wade... have you given any thought to what we're going to tell them?" she asked softly. "I'm not sure.. I don't think we should tell them that we have Kim just yet."

"I agree," he replied after a moment's thought. "But.. that doesn't mean we can't tell them that it's a fake Kim."

Shego nodded, and gave a thumbs up to the nearby security camera. "Just what I was thinking."

Feeling vaguely morbid, Shego crept into the morgue and started looking through the names on the doors of the various compartments. "Hey, I'm not seeing Princess' name here anywhere," she complained as her frustration built.

"Checking," Wade said. "She should be here. I've found a record that seems to match the time.. freezer eighteen."

Shego walked over to the appropriate freezer and checked the name on it again. "Shit, of course they have her down as a Jane Doe," she said, and went to turn the handle and open it.

"Wait!" Betty called. "Wade.. can you scan the inside of that freezer?"

"Sure.. why?"

"Call it a hunch," Betty replied.

"Shego, grab the handset, and hold it to the door."

She complied, then tapped her foot while Wade scanned.

"Whoa, good call, Dr Director," he said eventually, with a worried tone. "There's several circuits behind the door, and I'm not actually reading a body in that freezer."

"I just _know_ I'm going to regret asking this but.. what's actually in there?" Shego asked.

"Couple of kilograms of C4, if I'm reading this right. Oh, and a mound of ball bearings. But you have bigger problems."

"Bigger problems than the world's nastiest improvised shotgun poised to rip me apart if I open this?" Shego asked incredulously.

"Yeah. You're standing on a pressure pad that sent a silent alarm that I didn't catch in time to the main building security station. I don't know if they can detonate that remotely.."

Shego didn't stick around to hear the rest of that sentence, she ducked back around the corner and burst through the door of the morgue, right into the path of a group of three security guards, their guns already drawn.

"Shit!" she cursed, and dove straight into them, using their surprise to close before any could bear on her, then reaching out and grabbing two of the guns with hands that flared hot enough to melt the barrels clean through. She extinguished the plasma to grab their shoulders and fling herself at the last guy, bringing her foot up in a kick that crunched into his wrist and sent the pistol flying.

Before he could react to the pain of the broken wrist, she slammed into him and threw a hard elbow into his temple, dropping him to the floor. She turned back to the first pair, who had both drawn batons and were starting forward, and sighed. "I don't have time for this."

A pair of plasma blasts rolled down her arms and leapt across the distance between them. Almost entirely kinetic energy rather than thermal, they slammed into both guards and tossed them backwards down the hall and heavily into the wall at the far end, fifteen meters away.

"I'm compromised, Wade," she called. "Ran into three guards who were already looking for someone inside - what's the go with the security, where was my warning?"

"I'm a little busy, sorry," he replied. "They noticed my hack and have been trying to trace me. Also, they have a second, redundant security system that won't play ball.. I'm good, but I'm only one person."

"Fine," she growled. "I'm exfiltrating now - this is turning into a shemozzle."

"A what?"

"A charlie foxtrot," she said, snorting at her accidental use of an Australian slang term she'd picked up.

"She means things are going to hell," Betty broke in. "And she's right, because half of the DC Metro Police just showed up at the FBI building. I'm pretty sure they must have been waiting nearby judging by the response time."

"We either have a leak, or they guessed we would be coming here," Will observed.

"No shit, Sherlock," Shego muttered. "Hey, hold on a second."

She ripped a door open and stepped into the biggest office, located the computer on the desk, and slipped a cable from one of her own devices into a free USB port. "Wade, I've got a jack on what I think is the ME's computer, and it's pulling the drive. Hey, this thing is isolated from the network… that makes me suspicious."

"Good thinking," he replied. "How long will it take?"

Shego looked down at her cracker, and a light started blinking green. "Just finished - only grabbed the non system files, and it looks like there wasn't much to grab."

"Hopefully we get something worthwhile from all this," Wade replied. "I have to bail out of my hack, I can't hold it - it feels like I have half the NSA against me, I'm seeing a dozen different penetration vectors against my proxies."

"I have no idea what that means," Shego deadpanned. "But I'm assuming it's bad."

He didn't reply, and Shego decided that it was time for her to bail as well. "I'm heading for the roof, I'll head back to the VTOL. Don't worry, we'll be out of here in no time," she said as she prised open the door to the elevator shaft and grabbed onto the ladder that ran beside the nearest car.

"It's worse than you think," Betty said softly. "We just picked up two gunships inbound. Your system wants to tag them as Apaches."

"That's.. okay, that's just overkill," Shego complained. "What the hell is going on here?"

"I'm not sure," Betty replied. "But I don't think you're getting off that roof top without a hand."

"Oh no," Shego scowled. "It's not happening."

"Shego, for fucks sake, stop being an irritating stubborn bitch, and just let me fly this hunk of junk over there and pick you up! You can burn me to death _after_ we're out of this shitstorm."

Taken slightly aback by the violence of Betty's outburst, Shego sighed. "Fine. Take the pilot seat, on the command console the login is _alphagreenbitch_ , the password is _drewloveshismommy_."

There was a moment of absolute silence on the line, and as it extended while Shego made her way up the ladder inside the elevator shaft, she felt herself blushing despite the lack of audience.

"Shut up, I was drunk and Drakken's mother had just been for a visit and I haven't bothered to change it ever since..."

Twin bursts of laughter nearly deafened her as Betty and Will gave up their efforts to hold their mirth in.

"I am so killing the both of you," she swore, as she reached the top floor and broke open the door into the lift plant room and then stepped out onto the roof proper, only to stop dead in her tracks as an entire company of heavily armed response troops leveled their assault rifles at her.

"Ahhh, crud," she said, preparing to raise her hands in surrender, to buy her some time to think.

There was a seconds hesitation, and then an order was shouted that turned her time to think into no time at all. "Fire!"

Reacting instinctively, Shego threw up both her hands and flared them as hot and as bright as they'd ever been, the plasma wave that formed roiling around her hands like a miniature sun and expanding out to form a green wall in front of her, turning the night into a green-hued day on the rooftop.

She heard a whispered "holy shit" through the earpiece, but didn't pay it any attention. The strain of holding such a large plasma wave was immense, but she didn't dare drop it, at least until she heard the last of the magazines clicking empty.

As the soldiers reloaded, she dropped the plasma and grinned wickedly at the shocked expressions on their faces. "My turn!"

She dove forward, tucking and rolling to come up in the middle of the front rank of troops. Fists, feet, knees and elbows flew out, slamming into chests, armpits, jaws, and temples, as she spun through the troops like a whirling dervish. As she threw the last trooper to the ground and slammed a fist into his solar plexus, she held her crouch and breathed heavily for a few seconds.

 _It's a good thing I've been sort of practicing_ , she thought as she felt her pulse racing. _If I was any more out of shape, I might have been in trouble._

In that second of reflection, a pair of incredibly bright spotlights flicked on and snapped on to her, and she blinked, holding a hand up to shield her eyes against the blinding light.

"Shego, the Apaches have arrived, they've got you targetted," Will called. "We're twenty seconds out - just don't do anything stupid."

She grinned. "What would you define as 'stupid'?" she asked, as the troopers around her started to recover slowly, pulling themselves to their feet, as Shego suddenly charged a pair of plasma bursts in her hands and fired them off with near pinpoint accuracy, slamming into the two helicopters, right on their spotlights, plunging the roof into darkness again.

"Make it snappy!" she called, spinning behind one of the raised sections of the rooftop to break line of sight of the attack helicopters.

"East side, we're here!" Betty called a few seconds later, and Shego heard the familiar soft whine of the VTOL in hover mode to her right. She broke from cover, then rolled. A ripping BRRRRRRRRRRRRRP noise accompanied a hail of lead from the nose gun of the closest Apache that passed over her head. As she regained her footing, she paused and sent a pair of plasma bursts back up the line of the tracers, one slamming into the cockpit without doing damage, but causing the pilot to flinch the chopper sideways enough to break the gunners lock on her, and she sprinted towards the edge.

At the last second, Betty dropped the active camo, and she only had to change her angle slightly, reaching the end of the roof, pushing off the waist high barrier around it and leaping forward into a roll that took her through the open rear hatch and past Will, holding onto one of the hatch rods with one arm, his other hand poised by the hatch close button, which he slammed the instant she was inside.

"Go, go, guhhhhhhhhh..." he shouted, trailing off as a second burst of fire from the Apache nose gun trailed Shego into the VTOL. As Shego turned around, she saw Will slide down to the closing ramp, a look of surprise on his face and a dark stain spreading in his jacket torso.

"Shit, Will's been hit!" Shego called. "Get us going, I'll grab the medical kit."

As the VTOL banked away, Shego struggled her way to the front of the rear section and grabbed the emergency supplies, pulling the medkit and walking unsteadily down the bucking deck to where Will was lying propped against one bulkhead, his colour already fading badly.

She pulled his jacket open roughly and found the blood was coming from a ragged gash in his torso. "Shit, it's a ricochet or shrapnel wound, and it's not a clean through and through," Shego reported.

"How bad?" Betty asked from the cockpit, grunting as she pulled the VTOL into a tight turn behind a pair of buildings and turned the active camouflage on as she passed out of sight of the two vengeful helicopters on their tail.

"There's a lot of blood," Shego replied. "And I'm pretty sure it's torn him up inside pretty badly.. there's no exit wound on his back which means that it's still in there somewhere."

She breathed carefully, trying to steady herself.

"He needs an ER, Betty. I can try and staunch the bleeding a little, but he needs professional help, and fast."

"Shit," Betty swore. "I can't leave him behind, he'll be picked up!"

"Well it's either that, or he bleeds to _death_ in my hands in the next ten minutes!" Shego shouted.

"There's.. another.. option.." Will groaned. "Drop me.. Johns Hopkins.. Baltimore.."

"Why there?" Betty asked.

"Doctor Strachan is.. still there.. I hope."

"Shit, I'd forgotten about her! Alright Shego, we're going to drop him on the roof of Johns Hopkins, there's a trauma surgeon who's in residence there who used to be a member of GJ's medical staff. If she recognises Will, she might be able to admit him as a JD and keep him safe, at least for a while."

"Better than nothing," Shego replied, holding another gauze bandage to Will's side to absorb the blood that was still rapidly leaking from the ragged gash.

"Gonna be.. nice new scar..." he whispered as she frowned down at him. "Was almost.. fun.. huh?"

Shego shook her head. "Quit trying to be the tough guy," she growled, then sighed. "When you get better, I'll show you proper fun, if you're lucky."

His head lolled to one side, and she poked his good shoulder. "Hey, stay with me!" she shouted at him.

"Shego, we're coming up on the hospital now. Get him ready to go. I've had Wade send a message ahead of us, there should be a trauma team on standby on the helipad, but I'm not going to risk dropping the active camo."

"Right! Will, c'mon, wake up!" She slapped his cheek and he grunted, his eyes opening in surprise. "Just so you know, this is gonna hurt like hell."

"Wonder... ful.. fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.." he groaned, as she hoisted him onto her shoulder, and slapped the hatch open button the second she felt the landing gear touch the roof. In ten seconds, she'd sprinted down the ramp and eased him onto the gurney that was waiting, seemingly appearing out of nowhere to the total shock of the surgeons and nurses standing around it.

"Take good care of him," she threatened them, then turned and dashed back up the ramp, slapping her hand on the close button and calling for Betty to go.

"What a fucking cockup," she sighed. She slumped to the floor of the jet and pulled her knees up to her chest as the aircraft angled into the sky and sped east out over the Atlantic.

 **KP KP KP**

The ringing phone interrupted Jack's brainstorming session with several of his VP's, and he apologized for ending the meeting early as he shooed them out of the office.

As soon as the room was secure, he picked up the handset.

"It's me," a familiar voice said.

Jack actually growled. "Who else would it be? This is a two phone system, idiot."

"Watch your tone. You're still in an awfully precarious position," Senator Willard snarled.

"And I'm the one who has far more leverage on you than the other way round. Don't even think about trying to play me right now, Senator."

There was a heavy sigh. "Look, I called because I have information. Betty Director and her lackey escaped the trap at Delta site in Canada."

"I know. I told you that we'd need backup plans. Lucky for you, we've already set the ball in motion."

"There's more. There's a chance we've been compromised - the FBI lab where the body was taken was just broken into by someone matching Shego's description. She took down a whole platoon of guards and managed to escape a pair of Apaches that were scrambled too. She had help, and I'm betting it was Director... I'm not hanging around for them to come find me. I'm leaving DC, taking a trip back home."

Jack found his smile widening. _Perfect_. "Did you want me to organize a welcoming committee if she visits you?"

"God no! I have my own security who can handle it, thank you very much. One last thing, Betty was spotted meeting someone in Nice, and then left from the airport in a hurry a few days ago, before this shit in DC. I've got people trying to track the flight now."

"Don't bother, I can guess where they went. The Seniors are getting involved after all, and that's probably how Shego got involved. I'm guessing she got an offer from Senior to help Betty out.."

"I thought you said none of the other major players were on the table!"

"They weren't, but it looks like Senior's angling for a slice of the pie. I bet he thinks he can play Betty from her weak position, do a deal of some sort," Jack said confidently.

"What are we going to do about it?" Willard asked.

Jack grunted noncommittally. "Right now, nothing. We continue as normal, until we're ready for the next move. Stay patient, Senator. I'll be in touch. Enjoy Ohio."

He hung up, then thought for a few seconds before calling a number from memory. After the standard connection delay and the secure tone, he spoke quietly. "It's me. Level 3 is a go. Ohio, maximum one week. You know the conditions. Make sure neither target escapes."

After ending that call, he dialed another number. "Major? Make your plans for Senior Island. One week. I'll let you know the exact time as soon as I can. Prepare your men."

* * *

 **A/N:** So, there you have it. Kim's mental state revealed, somewhat, and Shego and Betty have more info but are down a man, while Jack has plans of his own in motion, now that he knows the Seniors are definitely involved, something's guaranteed to happen. Stay tuned for the next chapter... and don't forget to review, I'd seriously love to know what you think of what I've written to this point.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note** : Chapter eight is here! A little bit of a slower chapter, this.. Shego makes a rather startling personal discovery, the improvised team has a debrief on the somewhat successful mission to DC, before a reunion in Sydney that reveals a new potential threat appearing for someone unexpected... meanwhile, Dr Director decides to do some more digging on her own..

My thanks to everyone who has read and left a review, or added me to their favorites/alerts, I appreciate it as always.

 **Standard Disclaimer:** The various characters from the Kim Possible series are all owned by Disney. All registered trade names property of their respective owners. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

* * *

 **Kim Possible: Shadow Plays**

 **Chapter Eight:**

 _Senior Island_

After she had settled the VTOL down on Senior Island and taxied to the indicated spot inside the cavernous hangar space, Shego stretched as much as she could in the tight confines of the cockpit, before she shut down the aircraft and, out of long habit, secured its systems in a hot standby mode that would let her depart quickly if needed.

She wasn't exactly expecting anything while on the island but it was a habit that had saved her life on more than one occasion, and one she was utterly loathe to break no matter how 'secure' the location.

 _It's not paranoia when they really are out to get me_. She grinned vaguely at the irony that for the most part, that wasn't true any more - like she had said to Kim a few days ago, her pardon had gotten rid of some of the people who'd wanted her head, but it hadn't eliminated everyone.

They'd probably just added a few new ones, in fact. The people who had killed the fake Kim had to know that she was looking for them, given their anticipation of the raid on the FBI's Washington DC Headquarters. She'd been identified, of that she had no doubt. Maybe the reaction she got would give them a clue to who was behind it all.

 _It doesn't matter what they do, though._ _I'll show them what happens when you mess with us._

Wait… _us?_ She paused for a second and tried to figure out why she'd used that specific word. Did she really consider Kim and herself an 'us', and if she did… in what sense?

She'd told herself six months ago that they would never be friends, and had intentionally set herself up to be hated for all the pain she put Kim through during rehab… but in that whole time, though she'd certainly complained about the pain and the work, Kim had never said anything close to what she'd once said on a tower, in the rain, high on the roof of Bueno Nacho HQ.

' _You know what I hate?'_

' _That your... date melted?'_

' _Nah... you.'_

It was like she was back there, the memory was so vivid… the memory of the kick, the short flight that had followed it, ending with the impact and the agonising burst of electricity that had followed it as the tower had short circuited as it fell.

She braced herself for the rush of anger that usually accompanied that specific memory, the one that had stood in the way of her ever truly letting down her guard around Kim, since it lurked so close to the surface and came back to her nearly every time Kim moved just _so_ , as if preparing a kick... but for the first time she could remember, the anger never came.

What had changed?

She tried to work through it piece by piece. She knew that she had started to respect Kim at some point during their fights, she'd admitted that to herself previously, but this was something different. It felt… almost like she'd forgiven Kim for what had happened between them?

Forgiven her and… oh.

 _Ohhh_.

She _cared_ for Kim.

She had never said it in so many words - had never even _thought_ it - but she realised the truth of it immediately.

It had been in her every action since finding the broken shell of the redhead in Sydney. The surgery and the rehab work she'd put in, the protection she had given them through her experience in staying hidden and under the radar… even the search for a therapist to help her PTSD. It all said more than any simple declaration could have.

She cared for Kim Possible, in a way she hadn't cared about _anyone_ \- not even herself - in a long time.

 _Oh… shit._

She pulled herself away from the introspection, lacking the mental energy required to contemplate it any further thanks to the bare hour of sleep she had gotten while flying back to the island.

Instead she eased herself out of the pilot seat and rubbed at her cramping legs, before walking gingerly back into the main cabin where she stopped at the sleeping form of Betty Director and gently shook the other woman awake.

Betty's good eye snapped open and she squinted for a second at Shego, then she pushed herself upright and grabbed around under the bunk she'd appropriated for her boots, pulling them on and then standing upright and stretching herself.

Shego scowled as Dr Director straightened her customary blue jumpsuit and wondered where the hell she'd found one with the GJ logo removed. Betty seemed more alert than the near zombie she had been when Shego had finally convinced her to sleep, a few hours after they had abandoned her injured agent in Baltimore, and she felt a twinge of resentment.

"Any word from Wade?" she asked as Shego walked to the ramp and opened it.

"Will's still in surgery, last I heard. Wade will keep an eye on things and let you know if anything happens."

"I know... I just hate feeling..."

"Helpless?"

"Yeah," Betty said, balling her fists like she wanted to punch something.

Shego nodded. "I understand. Let's go have a chat to Senior. I think Wade found something on the drive I pulled that might be useful, and I'd rather share it with everyone in one go."

"Right." As they walked from the hangar, Betty looked over at her. "You okay? You look… I dunno."

"I'm fine," Shego said hastily. "Just tired."

"I hear that," Betty said, then yawned. "Damn, I need a long shower and a proper sleep. No offence, but your jet isn't exactly the most comfortable place I've ever had to sleep."

Shego shrugged nonchalantly. "I had her customised for speed and durability, not comfort. Probably an oversight on my part, to be honest. I've certainly slept in worse places, but yeah, one of these days I'll get her refit."

"Should have let Senior do it when he was looking after it for you," Betty pointed out as they made their way into the mansion proper, accompanied by a familiar pair of henches.

"Are you kidding? I don't want red plush carpets, or gold fittings," Shego said as they made their way towards the elder Senior's study. "I like the old man, but his tastes are just a bit.. over the top, for me."

"I didn't hear you complaining when you stayed in the guest suites last year," Senior said with a smile as they arrived.

"Yeah well, luxury in its appropriate place is perfectly fine. My jet is _not_ an appropriate place for it. I am not one of those people."

He laughed and waved them towards seats. "As one of _those_ people, I will chose not to take offence to that. Now, Bonita will be joining us momentarily, she is indisposed right this.. oh, never mind." He trailed off as Bonnie entered the room.

Shego and Betty both noticed that the normally perfectly styled brunette looked slightly unkempt, her hair slightly rumpled and a tired look around her eyes, as if she wasn't sleeping properly, and her face was pale as if she was sick. The two visitors shared a significant glance, their eyebrows going up at the same time.

Bonnie noticed the look, and scowled at them both.

"Right, since everyone is here," Senior said smoothly, interrupting the mutual suspicion. "We might as well get started. Master Load, if you could please be so kind?"

"Certainly, Señor Senior," Wade's disembodied voice came from speakers on Senior's desk. "I've gone through the data that Shego pulled from the ME's computer on her way out, but first of all, two pieces of information that I'm sure Dr Director is keen to hear. The first, Will's out of surgery and in recovery. From what Dr Strachan told me, he's lucky you got him there when you did - he'd lost a lot of blood from the internal injury. It looks like the bullet ricocheted off the internal structure of the VTOL and hit him just under the ribcage, doing some fairly significant damage, but they were able to extract the bullet and repair most of the damage."

"How long will he be in recovery?"

"Couldn't tell you, sorry," he replied. "Best guess is at least a month in hospital - and he won't be fit for duty for a while after that, the damage to his abdominal muscles will mean he'll be restricted to light duty only."

Betty nodded. "Better than the alternative," she said. "He knows the rules regarding injured agents returning to work even better than I do, no doubt. What was the second bit of information?"

"He's been booked into the hospital as William Donoghue, and I've done my best to make it difficult for anyone who doesn't know exactly what they're looking for to make it hard to find him - including changing the report of what was pulled out of him to a piece of steel from a workplace industrial accident. I think he'll be safe, at least for a while."

Betty released a sigh and leaned back in her chair, relaxing slightly. "Thanks Wade. Good work, as always."

"My pleasure. Now, to the other events of.. uhh.. last night for some of you guys, early this morning for me."

"Time zones," Shego snorted. "What a pain in the ass."

"Yeah, but I'm mostly used to it after years of.. well, anyway. I've analysed the scans I got of the freezer that supposedly had Kim's body in it, according to the first set of records I pulled from the building systems. It was definitely designed to kill someone of Shego's power level - it would have been total overkill for any normal human who opened that without disabling the booby trap first."

"So, either they knew I was coming, or they guessed I might come? I'm not sure which one I like least," Shego commented. "Either they've got sources of information we don't know about, or they're smart enough to plan this out in advance."

"We'll look into both, obviously," Wade said. "And you're right, neither option has particularly pleasant implications, but the data you lifted from the ME's computer more than makes up for it."

"What did you find?" Senior asked. "Were our suspicions correct?"

There was a short pause, while Wade typed, and a long text report suddenly scrolled over one of the screens in the office.

"Yes. The body that ME examined was most definitely not that of Kimberly Anne Possible."

The silence that met that statement was punctured by two different sighs of relief, and Shego felt a momentary flicker of surprise that it was Senior and Bonnie.

"I hate to play Devil's Advocate," Betty said, inducing a quiet snort from Shego that she ignored, "but is it possible that they just provided a different body to the ME to cover their tracks?"

"It probably is a possibility," Wade said. "But I checked the report the ME was compiling, and the injuries line up exactly with the footage of the assassination. The angle of entry, the caliber of bullet, and the damage to the back of the skull. I mean... sure, they might have shot another person with the exact same results and substituted that body for Kim's but..."

Shego hated to think exactly how Wade had gone through and linked that data together. _How many times has he watched not-Kim get.._ She knew Wade was a child of the internet age and had seen and done things she probably couldn't even imagine, but there had to be limits, even for him, on how much was healthy. She made a mental note to talk to him on her way back to Sydney, after they wrapped up here.

"That seems quite unlikely," Senior said. "I am assuming that the ME should not have written his report on his own computer?

"Correct again," Wade said. "It seems that the ME was upset about some of the orders being given regarding handling of this body, and he decided to compile his notes and an official complaint on his own system."

"What handling?"

"Someone gave him an order to only do a cursory investigation and then turn the body over to DHS. I think he did a more thorough job than the people throwing their weight around wanted, and he compiled the details in this report. I'm not sure what he was going to do with it, but it's a bombshell."

"How so?" Betty asked.

"The person who was assassinated was not Kim Possible, but she was using nanomorph technology to make her look like Kim. When she died, the nanomorphs reset to their default configuration and the ME recognized her. He even attached a picture for comparison." The image of a blonde woman came up on the screen.

"Camille Leon!" Bonnie said. "Are you freaking _kidding_ me?"

"Wade?" Shego asked. "Did you want to show those last few seconds of the footage again?"

"Sure," he said, and the footage of the confusion in the moments after the first bullet hit were shown, with Wade slowing it down and showing the nanomorphs on Camille's legs starting to revert to their original form.

"Holy shit," Betty breathed. "It really was a fake. Kim might still be out there, somewhere."

Shego covered her reaction with her best poker face, while Bonnie and Senior breathed another shared sigh of relief. _Gotta get out of here before I blow the secret. What's the best way to do this?_

"Well, now that we know Kim isn't dead," she said suddenly, maintaining her straight face as she stood, "I'm going back out to looking for her. Wade still has me on a retainer after all. The next place you wanted me looking was Australia, right? Well, I'm going to need more supplies this time, so I'll be taking my VTOL."

Wade caught on very quickly. "No problem, I can organize a supply drop in, say, Perth?"

 _I could kiss that boy._ _Actually no, that'd be bad, he's still underage._

"Start on the West Coast, makes sense to me," she ad libbed. "Oh, by the way, Bets.. if you want fast, untraceable transport that doesn't still have a GJ bullseye - I mean logo - painted on it then you can take my mini-jet. I'll leave the access codes with Senior here. It should be enough to get you in and out of Baltimore if you want to visit Will. Just.. try not to scratch the paint job. It's a classic."

She tossed her hair over one shoulder, shot a look at the assembled group that blatantly dared anyone to challenge her, then strode from the room.

Bonnie followed her at a discrete distance, leaving Senior and Dr Director alone in his office to go over the detail that Wade had provided from the raid, as well as details of the mini-jet that Shego was offering.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Betty asked him a few minutes later as they heard the whine of the VTOL engines powering up outside the villa, then the roar as the jet lifted off and powered into the early morning sky.

"That our mysterious green skinned friend is holding something back from us?" Senior asked.

"Exactly."

"I did rather get that feeling, yes. Her poker face is good, but I have decades of experience on you all - no offence intended."

"None taken," Betty waved the apology away as Bonnie returned to the study and sat back at her spot. "The question is: what is she hiding?"

Senior's eyes sparkled. "Or maybe it should be ' _Who_ is she hiding?'"

It took Betty's tired mind a second to catch up, but then her jaw dropped. "No."

Opposite her, Bonnie leaned forward with an interested gleam in her eyes, as Senior leaned back in his seat and shrugged. "I could be wrong, of course, but if I'm right.."

"Why didn't she _say_ anything?" Betty demanded. "Damn her, I told her everything I knew about.."

"I suspect that the reason you were investigating the FBI HQ might have given her ample reason to be particularly cautious."

"But she knows we didn't do it! She said as much herself," Betty objected.

"True, but she still wasn't 100% sure how much she could trust you. It was vaguely possible - no pun intended - that you had set up the fake assassination just to lure her out."

Betty's mouth dropped open again. "That's preposterous."

"I quite agree, but you don't get to where Shego is by being careless, no matter how powerful you are. I suspect your intuition and warning about the trap in the morgue probably helped to convince her that you were honestly working with her, if nothing else. As to whether I am correct, I suspect time will tell. I would track her, but it would likely be an exercise in futility... you don't find Shego if she doesn't want to be found - unless you happen to be Team Possible."

Senior paused, then smiled widely. "One way or another, however, if Kim Possible is indeed alive and under Shego's protection - for whatever reason - she will surely step back into the spotlight, at some point. I am equally sure it will be spectacular, and probably quite upsetting for those who have taken advantage of the chaos caused by her apparent death."

He gave her an even look.

"We shall just have to make sure that the world doesn't fall too far apart before that happens, won't we?"

Betty found herself nodding in agreement without hesitation. "In that case, I have a lead that ought to be followed up, as soon as possible."

 **KP KP KP**

"Hi honey, I'm home!" Shego called out in a sickly sweet voice straight out of a 60s sitcom, as she opened the door to the suite and stepped inside. There was a rustle of movement from the kitchen, and Kim appeared with a box of Chinese takeout in her hand and chopsticks halfway to her mouth.

"Well at least it's not pizza again," Shego sighed as she kicked her boots off, dropped her bag and wandered over to the couch, which she collapsed into with a groan. "Don't suppose there's more of that?" she asked, as her stomach rumbled noisily.

Kim vanished back into the kitchen, where the rustling resumed and a few moments later, she reappeared with a second container and a pair of chopsticks, which she handed to Shego with a grin before easing onto the couch beside her. "Wade let me know you were on your way back, so I ordered double and kept it warm for you."

"I could kiss you," Shego teased, laughing at the blush that appeared on Kim's face.

"You'd need to go have a shower first," Kim replied, miming pinching her nose and shuffling further down the couch.

"Hey, you try flying thirty thousand miles in a couple of days, throw in an infiltration of a hostile building concluding with a fight with the guards - never mind the pair of Apache gunships they throw in for fun - and we'll see how fresh you smell. I'd have stopped for a proper shower on the way, but I wanted to get back."

"Aww, you did miss me," Kim said, smiling.

"Yes, maniac, I missed having someone harassing me constantly," Shego shot back without any heat. "Actually, I found a few things out while I was gone."

Kim sat up, instantly alert. "Oh yeah?"

Shego nodded, then slowly opened the top of the food, savoring the smell of the szechuan beef, before grabbing the chopsticks and pulling some out slowly, staring straight at Kim. After a moment, she popped it in her mouth, chewing slowly and deliberately. She watched Kim get more and more frustrated, and just when she judged that Kim couldn't take any more, she swallowed and grinned.

"Yep," she said simply, and took another bite.

Kim actually growled in frustration, and Shego laughed out loud around her mouthful of food. Deciding to put the younger woman out of her misery, Shego pulled the phone Wade had given her out and tapped the call button on it.

"Hey Shego, how's Kim doing?" Wade asked.

"I'm good Wade. Shego's being a bitch as usual," Kim replied, eliciting another laugh from her companion, as much for the choice of language as the complaint.

"Just a bit of well deserved torture," Shego said, talking around her third mouthful of beef. "No big. Why don't you fill Little Miss Hyperactive here on what we found out while I get this food into me."

"Sure," Wade replied, and gave Kim a slightly edited version of the trip, including the unexpected side-trip to Senior Island and the assistance that Betty and Will had offered.

"I knew they weren't part of it," Kim declared. "It just wouldn't be her style at all. I'm glad they were able to get away from anyone coming after them."

"Yeah, well, there's more to it," Wade told her, and launched into the actual infiltration of the morgue, the fight on the rooftop, Will's injury, and the discussion at Senior's.

"Wow," Kim breathed. "So it was definitely Camille?"

"Yeah, it certainly looks like her, I'm afraid," Wade said. "Of course, without a DNA sample to match, I can't be _100%_ sure, but it looked exactly like her, apart from.. well.."

Kim shook her head. "What an awful.. I mean.. she wasn't exactly the _nicest_ person in the world, but.."

".. but it's not a nice thing to have happen to you?" Shego asked. "No, it isn't."

A determined look came over Kim's face. "We're going to find out who did it, and they're going to pay, aren't they?" she asked Shego.

Three days ago they'd discussed their options, and had pretty much settled on staying out of this - that they would do what they could to find information then give it to someone else like Dr Director to work with. Now there was something different about Kim's attitude, and Shego could guess what it was - talking with the psychologist had clearly given Kim a new outlook - one much more like her old self.

Good, she thought. I'm glad she finally agreed to go, and I'm glad it's helped.

Kim was watching her now, waiting for her response, and despite a moment of hesitation, after her realization in the cockpit of her VTOL, there wasn't really much of a choice. If Kim was in… so was she.

" _Oh yeah_ ," she nodded. "Absolutely."

"There's one more piece of the puzzle," Wade told her. "Betty let Senior know, and Senior told me while you guys were in flight, but I'm not sure if she told you, Shego."

"Oh?"

"The reason why she thinks GJ were framed for Kim's murder."

"Oh, this'll be good," Shego predicted.

"They had a storehouse in Canada - a former HenchCo Rent-A-Lair that Kim and Ron busted up a few years ago, if you can believe that - where a whole lot of recovered Lowardian tech was secured. When Betty and Will got there after implementing the Ghost protocols, it had already been attacked. A bunch of the guards had been mind control chipped and left behind to kill Dr Director, and all the tech was gone."

"Oh boy," Shego muttered. "That was worse than I was expecting."

She turned to look at Kim, who sat frozen in shock.

"Kim? Hey, Princess?"

Kim shook herself, then looked at Shego with a fearful expression. "Shego, if whoever is behind this is after Lowardian tech, we need to go back to Middleton _right now_."

"What? Nuh uh, no way in hell, Princess. That is quite possibly the least safe place for you. The risks.."

"I _know_ the risks! But it's my Dad! The Middleton Space Center had a bunch of Lowardian tech under study, the power and faster than light drive systems of the cruiser, I think. If someone is really going after all that tech, then my Dad is in danger!"

"So we get Wade to call the center and they increase the guards and..." Shego trailed off at the look Kim was giving her. "Jeez Kim, okay... so maybe I can go and have a look around, but you're not coming."

"Shego, the last time my Dad saw you, you stole his spacesuit and ran off - okay, admittedly it was to help Ron rescue me and Drew, but still. He's not exactly entirely trusting of you, y'know."

"So then I'll stay in the background and scope the situation out and only get involved if something bad happens."

Kim shook her head. "Not good enough. Look.. I'm sorry, Shego.. I've got to go with you. I know I'm not 100% mentally, if anything the last few days have proven that several times over, but I don't have a _choice_. I've... I've just got this feeling, okay? That if I don't go back now, and watch over Dad, I'll never see him again."

She looked down at her lap, and Shego was surprised to see tears starting to fall.

"And if something does happen, and I'm not there, and.. even though I would _know_ you did everything you could.. I'd always feel guilty that I wasn't there to save him." She sniffed, and Shego felt her resistance crumbling.

"Wade, I notice you're rather quiet. You're not objecting to this crazy idea?" she inquired, trying to find some backup.

"I'm not sure I like it any more than you do, but I understand why she wants to come," Wade said. "And... she's had hunches before, and they almost always turn out right. I wouldn't bet against her this time either."

 _Damnit. So much for that idea._

"I'm going to regret this," she predicted darkly. "But luckily for you, I switched from the mini-jet to the VTOL when I stopped at Senior Island on our way back. We can get going in the... uh.. what time is it now, actually?" she asked.

"Just on 7pm," Kim said, looking at her watch.

"Okay, I'm going to have a shower, then I'm going to sleep for about twelve hours straight, and then we can leave in the morning. I don't want to push myself any more than that - I'm good without much sleep for a little while, but if something does happen, I don't want to be tired and slow, because that's as good a recipe for dead Shego as there is."

Kim nodded. "I'll check your go bag for anything that needs replacing, and I'll get my own ready."

"Kim... how's your ankle and knee?" Wade asked suddenly.

"I can handle it," she replied. "I'm recovering well. I'm still not quite as fast as I was at my best, but I can adapt."

"Well, I haven't mentioned them before now because you haven't been needing them, but.. I had some ideas a while ago that could help you out in that regard," he said. "I'll get to work on finishing them and they'll be ready for you by the time you reach Middleton."

"Cool! Thanks Wade, you rock, as always."

"Well, I'm gonna go get some sleep myself," he said, and disconnected, leaving Kim and Shego looking at each other over their boxes of food.

"Well, I guess it's settled, then," Shego said. "We leave tomorrow."

She looked at the expression on Kim's face, which was torn between happiness and frustration, most likely from the desire to go now, given they had no idea if a hostile force would actually make a play for the Lowardian tech at the Space Center - though the more Shego thought about it, the more sense it made.

"Hey… Kimmie?" she said eventually.

"Yeah?"

"We do this, we do it _my_ way, okay? I'm in charge, and you listen to what I tell you."

Kim nodded reluctantly.

"Good, I meant what I said about not letting you run off and do anything stupid."

 **KP KP KP**

Betty Director eased the mini-jet that Shego had allowed her to borrow down in the middle of a small clearing about a mile from her target, then scowled as she scanned through reports that she was starting to get through the last of her active contacts; reports of GJ operatives around the world being arrested or simply disappearing and not being seen again. She'd known from the moment Will had prompted her to initiate the Ghost protocols that she was potentially burning loyal agents and leaving them with no protection from the host countries they were in, some of whom were very unfriendly, but it didn't lessen the horror of knowing that vast numbers of agents who'd relied on her to keep them safe were being captured and in some places almost certainly tortured and killed.

They had trusted her, and in return she'd let them down by never seeing the current crisis coming, and it was them, not her, paying the price.

Well, it's time to stop running and take the fight back, she vowed to herself. Nobody else had the knowledge to do what she was about to do, so it was up to her.

She clambered out of the mini-jet and secured the hatch closed again, activating the remote security systems from the control Senior Sr had given her before she left the island, and turned towards her target - an isolated but sprawling farmhouse surrounded on three sides by open rolling hills, but backing on to the forest she had chosen to land in.

She crept slowly through the forest, taking care to scan the area ahead of her constantly, avoiding sensors and security guards as much as possible, resorting to her stun gun twice when given no other option. She took care to hide the unconscious guards, dragging them off the paths they'd been on and concealing the tracks hastily before moving on. As night fell around her, she reached the outskirts of the forest, and smiled grimly to herself.

She crawled on her belly through the dew covered grass until she reached the back door, then almost melted up against the wall as she pulled an electronic lock pick from a pocket on her combat jumpsuit, and slid it against the keypad.

A second later, the light on the box blinked from red to green, and there was a muted click as the door unlocked. She eased it open, slid inside and then pulled it closed behind her almost completely silently. She crept through the farmhouse like a ghost, slipping into rooms occasionally to ensure she wasn't seen by the patrolling guards, until she reached her target. She eased herself into a high backed chair and checked her watch, and settled in.

She didn't have to wait long until the door behind her opened and the light flicked on. She waited until she heard the door closed again.

"Hello, Senator Willard," Betty said cordially, turning the chair she'd been in around and gesturing with the gun in her left hand. "Please have a seat."

Senator John Willard looked down at her, his jaw dropping. "What… how..?"

"Oh, and don't bother calling the guards," Betty added, taking a gadget from her pocket and setting it on the desk. "I've taken the liberty of jamming all communications from this room to ensure we can have an uninterrupted chat."

Willard sat abruptly, his hands raised placatingly as the barrel of Betty's gun hovered directly over his heart. "Betty Director, this is an unexpected surprise," he said, regaining his equilibrium a little too quickly for her liking. "Last I heard you were in Europe."

"I should imagine it's a surprise, given what you've tried to do to me," she replied angrily. "Why did you have to kill Kim Possible to do it?"

The senator frowned at her. "What?"

"It was a simple question, Willard!" Betty growled. "Why. Did. You. Kill. Kim. Possible?"

Willard's frown deepened. "I have no idea why you're asking me, Betty, when it was blatantly obvious that you did it."

Betty launched herself from the chair and loomed over the desk at the senator, the gun unsteadily wavering in her hand briefly.

"Don't you dare," she whispered, her anger barely in check. "Don't you dare suggest that I would ever have done anything to hurt her! I had nothing to do with her death, and you know it. Do you know how I know that?"

Senator Willard stayed in his chair as she suddenly started pacing behind the desk.

"When did she come to you?" Betty suddenly asked, whirling on him. "When did 'Kim Possible' first come to you with some BS story about Global Justice planning fake terror attacks on US soil?"

Willard stared at her evenly. "Are you sure that the story is BS?"

The gun in Betty's hand was suddenly aimed between his eyes again. "If you thought that there was even the _slightest_ chance that there was any truth to whatever she gave you, you would have gone to the FBI and Homeland Security, not hold a goddamn press conference on the steps of the Capital."

Willard snorted. "Okay, so I knew that what she had was almost certainly guaranteed to be fake. It was convincing enough to fool Roberts, and he brought her to me and McCallum to rope us in, but I'm not quite as stupid as either of them."

"So why go along with it? Hell, why would she even come to you in the first place?" Betty asked.

"Because it's no secret that I hate your organisation," Willard replied evenly. "You operate outside of the system, with no oversight from Congress, and that makes you a threat to our sovereignty."

"I have a mandate from the United Nations-" Betty began angrily, but Willard cut her off.

"Yes, a mandate given approval by a president who was desperate for anything positive to distract from his scandals, and one that should have been revoked the moment his time in office was over. You can play your World Police games elsewhere, Betty, but you should never have been allowed to operate in the US, and as far I'm concerned, as soon as I have the power to remove you completely, I will."

"So that's why you went along with it," Betty muttered. "Because it was convenient for you."

Willard scoffed. "As if you haven't gone along with convenient things that you shouldn't have, because it made your life easier or goals attainable. Kim Possible is the perfect example of that," he said. "The fact that you let her go out and nearly get herself killed repeatedly going after targets that your organisation should have been is proof that you're a hypocritical bitch."

Betty shrugged. "Up until last week, I would have told you that nobody _let_ Kim Possible do anything at all. But that's not the important thing, not any more."

"Oh really?" Willard said. "What is?"

"You were being used, just like I was, and just like the fake Kim was," Betty muttered.

"What do you mean 'fake' Kim?" Willard demanded.

It was Betty's turn to laugh. "So much for being smarter than Roberts and McCallum. The Kim Possible who approached you with a fantastic story about GJ, one that gave you exactly what you wanted? She wasn't even really Kim Possible."

Senator Willard narrowed his eyes. "That's not possible. I met the girl, I spoke with her myself. It was Kim Possible. I'm sure of it - and I've met her twice before, when she was in Washington."

"It wasn't," Betty assured him. "It was a plant using nanomorph abilities to _look_ like Kim Possible, and provide you, Roberts and McCallum with what you thought was ammunition to take me down a peg. It's obvious you don't know as much as I thought about what's going on. You're as much a pawn as the rest of us. Shame, really. I was hoping to come here and actually get some answers, but it looks like I'll have to keep looking. It was never about either of us - not directly, at least"

"What do you mean?" Willard asked.

"I mean that while I was running for my life after the whole of the US turned against me for supposedly assassinating Kim Possible, an unknown force assaulted and captured the secure storage facility where the majority of the recovered Lowardian technology was being kept, safely out of the hands of countries and mad scientists alike."

She stopped and stared pointedly at him. "From your reaction, it's clear you know at least some of what I'm talking about."

"Yes.. you were quarantining that technology, and that meant we were falling behind."

"Behind who?"

"China has been working on salvage they retrieved, in conjunction with the Russians."

"Wait, what?" Dr Director asked. "Who did you hear _that_ from?"

"CIA Station chief in Beijing. They picked up reliable intel that the Russkies salvaged at least three fully intact tripods from under the ice in Vladivostok and provided one of them to the Chinese."

Dr Director blinked in surprise, then lowered her head into her hands. "Oh god, those bloody _amateurs_."

"What do you mean?"

"The Chinese don't have a genuine tripod. Neither do the bloody Russians."

"How can you know that?" Willard demanded. "The intel was good!"

"The intel is _crap_ , because the Russians gave a dud to the Chinese… and I know that for a fact because they gave GJ all three."

" _What_?" Willard thundered. "How the hell did you manage that?"

"Cause Vladimir owed me a favor."

Willard blinked in surprise.

"It's called _Global_ Justice for a reason, Willard, we're everywhere. Vladimir knew what he stood to gain by providing the real tripods to us, and we helped ease tensions along his border by providing some convincing but very much fake 'salvage' to the Chinese. Everybody wins. Those idiots in the CIA got wind of the fake and don't even think to check it? Incompetent assholes!"

She sighed.

"Now wait a damn minute. The Chinese not having the real deal might be a good thing, but the fact is that you're still keeping that Lowardian technology hidden, and as far as I'm concerned that's an act of treason. You're still a US Citizen," Willard said. "With that in mind, why should it matter if the US reacquired control of the facility?"

"Because it wasn't _in_ the US, therefore seizing it from a sovereign nation could be considered an act of war."

"Act of war?" Willard shouted. "That ship crashed on our soil! It was ours by right of salvage!"

"Willard, if you think that I would have ever let warmongers like yourself get control of the technology on that ship, you're more delusional than I thought. No, I fought for and won the secret resolution by the Security Council that gave me authorization to secure the technology to protect it from misuse, and the President authorized the transfer the salvage already collected by the US to my control more than six months ago. The only exceptions were bits of the energy and drive systems already being studied in one trusted lab facility in Middleton."

Willard's face had grown increasingly red. "This is outrageous. The president has no right to hand over salvaged technology to an unsanctioned, unsupervised, out of control organisation that should never have been allowed to operate on US soil without the approval of Congress! The press will hear of thi-"

Willard stopped speaking suddenly, as a pane of glass behind Betty shattered, and a sudden red stain appeared in his shirt.

Betty threw herself to the floor as the report of the sniper rifle caught up with the bullet a second later, and several more rounds smashed more glass, slamming into the bookcases and chairs around the office. She kept her hands over her head as the glass fragments spilled around her. When she looked up, Willard had slumped from his seat to the ground, his eyes staring at her and his mouth struggling to work, before he stopped moving and his body relaxed, all life gone.

Betty let loose a series of curses and crawled to the door, reaching up and turning the handle with one hand then pulling it open and rolling through it, then standing and sprinting for the back door the moment she was clear of the door. As she ran through the house, several security guards appeared, guns drawn, obviously heading to the office. She swore again and ducked through a partially open door as the trio opened fire on her.

She realized just how bad things would get if the guards were able to identify her - and to think she'd thought things couldn't get worse after being accused of assassinating Kim Possible! If she was implicated in the murder of a sitting US Senator, there'd be no place on the planet safe for her to hide in - the Alphabet agencies she'd once collaborated with would turn every stone on the planet upside down looking for her at the behest of an angry government.

The guards approached the door to her room warily, but Betty surprised them by rolling out into the corridor and slamming a fist into the groin of one of the three, before spinning and firing her stun gun at the second, his body falling limp to the floor as the crackling of 30,000 volts knocked him out instantly.

The third guard managed to draw a bead on her with his gun, and she twisted out of the way, slamming into a wall to avoid the first shot, then diving forward under his line of fire as he tracked sideways towards her, crash tackling him to the ground, driving her knee up and into his groin upon landing, before he could use his superior size and strength to his advantage. She took no pleasure from the hit as he groaned and then vomited from the surge of pain from her strike, but she took the time to roll him on his side into the recovery position before stunning him.

The first guard she'd hit was still on the floor moaning from her original low blow, and she stunned him too, then beat a hasty retreat through the nearest door and ran for the woods, keeping her head low and trying to avoid any possible line of sight to where the sniper must have been situated to kill the Senator.

Five minutes of running brought her back to the clearing where she'd landed and secured the mini-jet, and a couple of minutes after that, she was back in the air, hovering over the forest with her infrared cameras trained on the house and the surrounding area. Try as she might, she could only see what she was certain were guards milling around the exterior of the house in confusion.

She had to hope that the electrical charge from the stun gun would cause enough memory loss in the three guards she'd encountered that they wouldn't be able to successfully identify her - otherwise, she was about to experience a whole new level of pressure.

She resisted the urge to scream at the top of her lungs, instead pushing the mini-jet into flight mode and pulling away from the house, her mind racing as she tried to put together any clue as to the identity of the assassin.

As she climbed, she triggered the comm system, calling the young hacker who had pledged to help her cause.

"Dr Director, what can I do for you?" Wade asked, then he blinked as he took in the blood stains still visible on her jumpsuit. "Are you okay?"

"It's not mine," Betty replied. "I need you to hack the security systems of the Ohio home of Senator John Willard, and fast. Everything for the last hour needs to totally disappear."

As his fingers started tapping away at the keys, he raised a quizzical eyebrow. "Can I assume the reason why is related to the blood on you?"

"You can," she said. "Someone killed him with a sniper rifle from long range - sound familiar? They did it while I was in his office having an unfriendly little chat with him. If I'm seen on security footage, there's going to be even more hell to pay than there already was."

Wade nodded. "I understand. I'm into the systems of the company that's contracted to manage his security… I've found the feeds from his home.. erasing it now… and writing over it with all zeroes."

"Thanks, Wade."

"This is not a coincidence, somebody was waiting there to kill the Senator - that means they guessed I would pay him a visit. That's twice now whoever's behind all this has predicted our movements, and I'm getting sick of it." Betty growled.

"Why were you there?"

"It was clear he was a part of the conspiracy behind Kim's assassination, but I think I was misdirected - he knew nothing about the Fake, and they waited to kill him in a way that would frame me. I'm becoming a pain in their ass, and they're trying to get rid of me."

"What are you going to do now?" he asked her.

"I'm heading to find Roberts in Chicago and ask him a few pointed questions. While I'm en route, I need you to alert the Secret Service to a potential threat to McCallum. If these guys are ruthless enough to take out Willard, I have to believe they're planning to make an attempt on the other two as well. I just hope I'm not too late."

"If either of them are killed as well, it might not even matter that I erased that security footage," Wade told her. "People will put two and two together and get five. They'll assume that you had them killed because they supported the fake Kim."

"I _know_ that, dammit," Betty muttered. "But I can only be in once place at a time. Damnit, I wish Shego was here. Is she in Australia already?"

Wade's face went slightly flat, and Betty suppressed a brief grin of triumph. _Whatever she's hiding, Wade knows about it to. I think Senior was right! Kim is alive, and Shego and Wade are protecting her. Thank god._

"Sorry, she's out of contact right now," he said eventually. "I can let her know next time she checks in?"

Betty shook her head. "She wouldn't be able to get here fast enough anyway," she sighed. "Get McCallum's security warned, and we'll have to hope they're up to it. I'll call you if I need any more assistance.. if the worst happens."

Wade nodded. "Good luck."

* * *

 **A/N:** Well then! A few people saw Willard's uppance coming a while off, but I don't think Dr Director quite expected it. So, Jack's now got two kills from his assassin... and meanwhile Kim and Shego are headed back to Kim's old hometown... will this be reunion time? Ready for the hammer to fall? Read on!


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note** : I LIVE! Apologies for this being delayed - I've been dealing with a combination of illness and high stress, all of which has cut my writing time down to next to nothing... still, I would have had it up last night, but FFdN was down (right when I was in the right space to finish editing and post the chapter, too). Anyway. I went through six or seven rewrites of this chapter and the next, trying to make sure they flowed well. I also uhm'd and ahh'd about doing a chapter that was purely Kim and Shego, and while I did have two different scenes written up to appear in the middle of this chapter, I ended up deciding to stay with just Kim and Shego, for the next chapter and a bit further because the other scenes work better elsewhere... Anyway, here's Chapter Nine, I hope you like it.

My thanks to everyone who has read and left a review, or added me to their favorites/alerts, I appreciate it as always.

 **Standard Disclaimer:** The various characters from the Kim Possible series are all owned by Disney. All registered trade names property of their respective owners. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

* * *

 **Kim Possible: Shadow Plays**

 **Chapter Nine** :

 _Sydney, Australia._

They didn't end up leaving in the morning as originally planned - Shego proved very reluctant to wake up from her sleep, still overcoming the combination of jet lag and fatigue incurred from the fights and flights. Despite Kim's insistence, she just rolled back over for more sleep when woken at first light, pulling the pillow over her head and issuing a threat of plasma enemas if she was woken again before 10.

Kim had been on the verge of losing control of her frustration, and decided to find a more constructive use of her time. She went for a walk into the city, and found herself at the office of Dr Watson, who made an hour free to talk with her. As expected, the therapist had objected when Kim had informed her that she was heading back to Middleton.

"I'm not sure it's such a good idea for you to be leaving right now, Kim," she said. "You're still not in exactly the greatest head space right now, even after our talk. I worry that any more stress could cause you to have another panic attack - or worse.

"I understand the risk, but it's one I have to take. I can't sit back and let a possible threat to my family go," Kim told her slowly. "Like I told Shego, if something did happen to my father, I don't think I could ever forgive myself for not being there, and I think that would be worse."

Kate seemed to accept that - reluctantly - but it was obvious she still held deep reservations, and she made them very clear.

"There's two other reasons why I should be okay," Kim countered, standing and moving over to the window of the office, looking out once again at the peaceful harbor. Her eyes were drawn to the building where she knew their apartment was, and she smiled. "One, it's familiar territory. No matter how bad things have been for me, Middleton is still... home. I know it's going to be hard, but there _are_ good memories there. I need to remember them - and I need to stop letting the bad ones control me."

Kate nodded. It was good advice that she would have given Kim herself. "And the second reason?"

Kim hesitated for a second, then committed herself. "Shego will be with me. She'll keep me safe."

"You're starting to trust her more," Kate observed, leaning back in her chair and watching the reactions of the teenager, who was blushing slightly.

"I… I kind of have to, since she's been responsible for all of my recovery up to this point. Everything she's done in the past few days since… well, if she really had any bad intentions for me, she's had plenty of opportunities to screw me over," Kim said honestly.

"Do you actually know her intentions, good or otherwise?"

"She wants me to get better, and then she wants to kick my ass for letting myself get to this point in the first place," Kim said, an amused tone in her voice.

"That's… not exactly what I'd call healthy. Or good intentions, for that matter," Kate objected.

Kim cracked a smile. "I've never been normal, and neither has she. Why would this be any different?"

Kate had to concede that point too, however grudgingly. She sighed, then handed Kim a card with a handwritten number on the back of it. "I want you to promise to call me if you have any issues. Any time, day or night, this is my personal mobile number."

"I will. Uhh, out of idle interest, do you give out your personal number to all your patients?" Kim asked curiously.

"None of my other patients are world saving teenagers with hero complexes - and friends who can summon plasma from their fists at will."

"I asked you last time if she threatened you.." Kim had started to say, before Kate interrupted her.

"And I told you that she didn't.. I already knew what she could do. We do have the internet here in Australia, you know," she added with a sarcastic grin.

Kim paused to consider that. "So… what? She asked nicely?"

"She was... prepared for this sort of eventuality, and before you and I first talked she made me promise to give you a way to get in touch if you had to - and I'm quoting her directly here - 'do something incredibly fucking stupid and run off before you were healthy'."

 _Ohhhhh_. Kim smiled at her therapist, thanked her for the talk, and headed back to the hotel, a spring in her step that hadn't been there two days ago, ready to wake Shego up and get on their way to Middleton. She did her best to ignore the slight undercurrent of anxiety driving her onward, the worry that they might already be too late was one she could only put to the side for now.

Six hours later, cruising over the Pacific Ocean and watching the first rays of dawn creep above the horizon in front of them, Kim found herself thinking back to the conversation with Kate. She looked over at Shego in the pilot's seat and found she couldn't help smiling.

"Wipe that smile of your face, Princess," Shego muttered. "Before I do it for you. I'm definitely starting to have second thoughts… I think I'm an idiot for letting you talk me into bringing you along."

"Oh give it _up_ , Shego. I already know you saw this coming a mile away, that's why Dr Watson gave me her direct number and made me promise to be call her if I needed to, any time, night or day."

Shego's scowl deepened, and Kim almost laughed at the look, but before she could tease Shego further a sudden melancholy mood settled over her and her own smile faded rapidly.

"Look, it's.. it's just kinda nice to know _someone_ cares," she added quietly, turning to look out the window at the rapidly brightening sky, and away from the angry face next to her.

The scowl dropped from Shego's face in an instant, and a worried look replaced it. For a few more minutes they flew along in silence, until she hesitantly spoke. "Hey, Kimmie, you know your parents, your brothers, your friends.. you know they all care too, right?"

"Yeah, but they weren't the ones that came looking for me and dragged me back from the edge." Kim couldn't help the bitter edge to her voice. It was something that had weighed on her mind for the last few months, even if the two of them hadn't talked about it before.

Left unsaid was the question ' _Why did nobody else come for me?'_ Shego heard it clear as day though, and tried her best to answer it, suspecting that Kim needed reassurance that she hadn't really been abandoned.

"Wade was the only one who could, and even then he did it by sending _me_. He knew that I was one of the few people on the planet capable and experienced enough to track you when you left his world of electronics and surveillance behind and disappeared into the jungle."

Kim shrugged carelessly.

"Look… Kim, please don't make the mistake of cutting yourself off from their feelings for you. If they had known where you were - if they knew where we were right now - do you doubt for a second they'd be right here beside you?"

Kim didn't have to think too hard about that - with maybe one glaring exception. "No, of course not."

"There you go then."

Once again, Shego had managed to take the edge off her sadness, with her ability to blast straight through all the extraneous… stuff, and focus on the most important things. Kim smiled slightly as she realized yet again how lucky she was that Shego had found her when she did, had dedicated herself to Kim's recovery... had been the friend she needed.

 _A friend?_ Kim wondered suddenly at that. Hesitantly, she thought back to all the times over the past six months Shego had pushed her, harder and harder, to get better again. Through it all, Shego had never pushed her to breaking point, had always been ready to pick her up when she had stumbled.

She had been there for her, had comforted her, had supported her, had celebrated with her. And Kim realized that at some point she really _had_ started to trust her former nemesis with…

 _My life?_ she asked herself. _Do I really trust_ Shego _with my life? After everything…?_

That was _way_ too big a question to contemplate right now. They had other things to focus on, she decided. The rest of the flight passed in a silence that neither of them exactly knew how to break until it became almost oppressive as they approached the California coast and US airspace.

"Back again," Kim eventually muttered as they crossed the coast. Shego's attention was focused on the radar and flight tracking systems, making sure they were avoiding any commercial air traffic, and she nearly missed what Kim had said. Not wanting to take her eyes off the sky around them, she reached across the center console to grab Kim's hand and give it a brief squeeze.

"You're okay, Princess," she said. "We'll handle it - together."

Kim gave her a small, wistful smile in return.

Little more than an hour after leaving the ocean behind, they were on final approach to Middleton. Despite her brave words in Sydney, Kim hadn't been totally confident in how she would handle being back near her old home town, and had tried not to think too much about it. She was surprised to find that although she felt a surge of emotion as they arrived, it was not overwhelming, and the slight flicker of panic that briefly threatened to rear its head was tempered by the twin calming influences of having Shego sitting next to her, her hand reaching across again to squeeze Kim's, and the effort she was making to focus on the reason they were here: to protect her father and the others at the Middleton Space Center from whoever it was that was going after Lowardian technology.

As they cruised over the center of Middleton in stealth mode, they passed over several locations she recognized, including Middleton High, and Kim was surprised to see the reconstruction work in the CBD area seemed to be nearing completion - the rapid progress in the time she'd been gone made her glad she'd turned down the Middleton Cheerleader Calendar suggestion that had arisen when the likely cost of the recovery effort had become clear.

(Surprisingly, it had been Bonnie who'd been the most vocal in her refusal to support the calendar, and when the suggestion of how much money such a calendar could contribute to rebuilding funds had been used to attempt pressure her and the other girls by some less-than-savory parties, Kim's former high school rival had delivered personally a check for a hundred million dollars straight from the Seniors bank account to the mayor of Middleton in a lavish ceremony that had buried the calendar idea once and for all.)

She shook her head and brought her attention back to the present as Shego brought the jet around behind a range of hills to the east of the Space Center, where they'd chosen to make their overwatch from, and landed them in a relatively secluded clearing.

She looked over, and noticed that Kim had gone quiet again. "You okay, Princess?" she asked, expecting Kim to be struggling with being so near to home - and all the complicated emotions that came with that.

"I was just thinking.. I don't think I've said thank you enough," the younger woman whispered eventually, surprising her.

"Thank me when we're home safe, and your family is safe, and the bastards who did this are gone," she sighed, and Kim nodded her understanding.

Sensing that Shego was uncomfortable with the emotional content of the conversation Kim changed tack. "What have we got on the Space Center?"

Shego gave her a thankful look, then turned back to her own screens as she finished securing the jet. "Quite a bit, actually. Wade got the floor plans and security system guidelines for the Propulsion & Exotic Energy labs - I still can't believe that someone actually let them get away with that name - and I've been looking over them while we were on autopilot earlier."

"Any weaknesses?" Kim asked.

"Sure," Shego replied. "Much the same weakness that Fort Knox has - people know where it is. Otherwise this is one of the most secure research facilities on the planet. I think the White House Situation Room might actually be easier to break into."

"After what happened in Washington, I kinda doubt that."

"Fair point," Shego acknowledged. "Anyway, if I wanted to hit this place I can think of two or three ways in for just me… but from what I can guess of what they're studying, given the size of the main labs here there's no way I'd be able to carry it out - I doubt even my lummox brother could."

"So how are they going to do it?" Kim asked.

Shego thought about it for a few minutes then grinned. "Shell game," she said confidently. "That'd be the easiest way to do it without actually storming the base."

"Explain?" Kim asked.

"Okay, imagine that the head honcho at the space center gets a message saying that there's been a threat to their Lowardian artifacts and the government is moving the whole lot somewhere safer."

"You already said this place was virtually impenetrable," Kim pointed out. "Why would they move it?"

Shego waved that aside as she stood and stretched, then as the two of them headed to get the surveillance gear she continued. "It doesn't really matter because the orders will come from God level and since the head admin here is former Army research, his response will be 'How high, sir?' instead of ' _What the hell for_?'. As a result the whole kit and caboodle will be loaded onto a transport of some description, and this is where the shell game will come into effect."

"They hit the truck in transit and substitute their own?" Kim asked, remembering that she'd seen something like that in movies more than once.

"Nah, that would be too risky. Taking the truck in the open is tough - moving target, risk of a crash causing damage to the equipment, and they'd have to know the route ahead of time. No, there's only one place to do it, one place they can guarantee the truck will be."

Kim had a flash of insight.

"Right here, before it passes the security checkpoint."

Shego handed Kim a ration pack. "Congratulations, you win a planning prize."

"So do they infiltrate and swap the trucks before they even start, or do they hijack it as it reaches the gate?" Kim pondered as she pulled the pack open and snacked.

"We can handle either," Shego replied, shrugging. "Set up an overwatch and keep an eye on any transport activity. If they look like they're packing stuff up, we get ready to intervene and steal the goods before they make the switch."

She looked out over at the Space Center, a hand on one hip and a contemplative look on her face. "I've only got one worry.. a frontal assault on the facility."

"I thought you said they wouldn't…"

"I said the shell game would be easier than storming it... they probably wouldn't, unless they were after more than just the salvage here.. then they might.." Shego trailed off. "Okay, we set up a sensor net around the site and tie it into the jet systems to monitor."

Kim nodded then fell into the hammock she'd expertly hung between two sturdy branches, the bed resting just an inch from the ground and the camouflage pattern breaking it up completely at range.

"Nice," Shego commented. "Alright, just so we're clear, you'll have first watch, then we trade off for the night. I have inbuilt night vision, you don't."

"Sure. Wait, you have night vision?" Kim responded,

"Side effect of the green," Shego grinned. "Comes in hand on night stakeouts, or for late night calls of nature."

Kim blinked in surprise, then laughed, which Shego joined in on.

"Alright, I'm going to set up the perimeter sensors around the center. It'll take me a few hours to move around and set these up without getting spotted. I want you to stay near the jet, okay?"

"Sure. What can I do to help?"

"You can help by _staying_ by the _jet_ ," Shego responded, then saw the frown on Kim's face. She stalked up the ramp and returned a second later. "Fine, here's the sensor manual, work your way through this and when you understand it fully, you can help me link the sensors in and test them."

A large book thudded onto Kim's lap, which she summarily dumped onto the ground. She eased herself out of the hammock and strode up into the jet, flopping into the co-pilot's seat and flipping the switches that set the aircraft's sensors to external input mode and passive scanning, before looking over her shoulder at Shego, who'd followed her in.

Shego's eyebrows rose, and Kim grinned. "Your sensor suite is similar enough to the GJ VTOLs that I can work it."

"You are just full of fucking surprises, Princess," Shego said eventually, as she grabbed the two large cases with the sensors and strode down the rear ramp. "Just absolutely full.."

Her words were cut off as the ramp raised back into position behind her.

"Smart ass," she muttered to the metal.

Three hours later, as night was starting to fall, Shego was most of the way through her wide circle around the Space Center, continuing to plant sensors every four or five hundred meters. Her earpiece crackled as Kim's voice came through.

"Hey Shego?"

"Yes, Kim?"

"I have a question.. you don't _have_ to answer, but I am kind of curious."

Curious herself that Kim would couch the question like that, Shego sighed. "Go ahead then."

"It's something that kind of came up when I was talking to Dr Watson before we left. Why are we staying in Sydney? I mean.. aren't we a little bit exposed there? Why aren't you hiding us away in a lair, somewhere?"

Resisting the urge to laugh, Shego shook her head. "In case you hadn't noticed, Princess, I'm fresh out of lairs right now. Drew gave up the location of all of them as part of the pardon deal, remember?"

Kim was silent for a second. " _All_ of them?" she asked pointedly.

This time, Shego did laugh, quietly. "Alright, all of them that Global Justice was aware of at the time, and that's all you get right now," she said. "But there's a couple of other reasons. One.. I wasn't really sure that putting you back in that kind of environment would be the best thing."

"Oh," Kim said softly, understanding her point.

"Yeah, lairs have a bad habit of self destructing when you're around," Shego teased to distract from the obvious thoughts. "Though that's usually the.." She trailed off suddenly, aware she was about to step into another danger zone.

"You can say his name, you know." Kim said gently. "But if makes you uncomfortable you can go with buffoon."

"That's always been more Drakken's thing. I was gonna go with Sidekick, or Distraction... or maybe Comic Relief Guy and his Walking Talking Penis metaphor of a pet."

Kim burst into laughter at that. "I know what you did there," she said accusingly, after she calmed herself. "Trying to make me remember Ron.. remember the happier moments."

"Point to me, Possible. Point to me," Shego said. "Second reason.. well, I kind of figured that a somewhat relaxing environment would help in your rehabilitation."

"Okay, so why Sydney?"

"Well… let me see. You were already in Australia, and they have a pretty good health care system that I could keep you semi anonymous in through the surgeries and recovery, it's not really high on the priority of most villains... and there's a shed load of amazing scenery and places to visit. Plus it's got sun, surf and sand by the bucket load."

"You're starting to sound like a tourist brochure," Kim said.

"Yeah well, sue me. I like what I like, Kimmie."

"Monique was always talking about wanting to visit."

Shego had to think about that name before connecting a vague memory with Wade's sanitized info about Kim's friends - data she'd asked for just to see if there was any possible way of figuring where Kim might have gone.. "Oh, your fashion and wrestling obsessed friend?"

"Most people remember her skin color first," Kim said with a short laugh.

"Yeah well, when you're green, skin color stops being a thing you notice, for the most part," Shego replied. "Anyway, as I was saying, up until all this happened and you convinced me to let you come along on this trip, I was planning to take you up to the Great Barrier Reef when you were fully healed. You know, snorkel in the coral reefs, with the fish and the rays and the turtles."

Kim's voice sounded slightly wistful when she finally replied. "That sounds.. really nice. But I don't have a swimsuit at the apartment."

"Nothing stopping me buying you one on the way back," Shego pointed out.

"You're set on this reef trip aren't you? Are you sure you're not just trying to get me into a bikini?" This time it was Shego's turn to cough, blushing furiously, and Kim crowed. "Point to me."

Shego shook her head and wondered at the change of attitude that had come over the former hero since her return from the FBI raid and Senior Island. _Man, talking to the shrink really did help_.

With a mission to focus on - even if she wasn't going to take physical part in protecting her father if Shego had anything to say about it - Kim seemed so much more like her old self that Shego briefly pondered whether there was a chance they were going about her rehabilitation backwards, and that the best thing for Kim was to put her in the thick of things - and make sure she survived through it, obviously.

Not that she would get things _entirely_ her own way, of course.

"Yes, Princess, point to you in this silly game we've started playing. Consider it a gimme, since I'm so far ahead."

Kim scoffed. "As if you would ever let a point go."

Shego let _that_ comment slide. "Alright, I'm done," she said. "I'm going to come back and have a nap, then you can wake me when you're tired, and I'll take the night watch."

"Right," Kim said. "Have the hammock, if you can avoid falling out of it."

Shego snorted.

 **KP KP KP**

 _Middleton, USA._

Two days of nothing more than observation turned the initial vigilance into tedium and Kim felt suddenly silly for insisting on them racing to Middleton. The two of them had been on edge all of the first day after getting only a little sleep, and the second was much the same. While Shego handled it _slightly_ better than Kim, both of them were not at their friendliest - which for Shego really wasn't much of a change from what Kim was used to.

 _That's not fair_ , Kim thought to herself as soon as the last thought coalesced in her head as she levered herself to her feet and slipped into the back of jet to use the small chemical toilet inside. _The last six months she's been nothing but.. considerate. Kind. Caring, even_.

She wasn't sure if she wanted to pursue that line of thought any further, even after the revelation on the flight over here. The almost casual flirting that Shego sometimes directed at her, and her halting, uneasy attempts to throw it back at the green woman were starting to weigh on her mind, and even just thinking of them was enough to bring a bright blush to her face.

She washed her hands and stepped back outside.

"Hey Princess, what are you thinking of that's got you so red in the face?"

 _Goddamnit_. _You have the worst timing, sometimes._ Kim hid her head in her hands.

"Nothing."

"Oh sure, I believe you," Shego said, the smirk all too apparent from the tone of her voice. " _Nothing_ makes me blush like that all the time, too."

Kim felt her Kimness start to take over, and the embarrassment she'd been feeling fled in the wake of what her brain suddenly interpreted as _challenge_.

"Fine. I'm thinking about how much time we've spent around each other the last few months."

"And that made you blush?"

"No, thinking about the flirting you do is making me blush," Kim said aggressively.

Shego paused for a second. "You kind of started it, a few months back, when we started putting together your rehab routine. You made a crack about me enjoying getting my hands all over you."

"You've been doing it long before that," Kim pointed out. "Back when we were fighting."

"What?" Shego had a confused look on her face.

"Oh come on, Shego. The pet names, the teasing, the fact that you never took advantage of.." Kim trailed off as her ire abated, and her confused emotions caught up with her again. "And then, you've been so nice to me for the past six months…"

".. because you nearly got yourself killed, and I wanted to see you back at your best so I can kick your ass, we've _been_ through this."

"Really? Are you sure that's all that it is?"

Shego nodded, not trusting words.

"I don't believe you," Kim accused. She rushed on as Shego opened her mouth to retort. "You say that you want me back at my best to kick my ass, but how many times have we gone at it till it's a draw - or one of us backs off because one of us (or sometimes Drakken) got what we wanted? At the end, it wasn't even really like fighting any more, it was more like a dance - we knew each other's steps so well, we'd been practicing them together long enough."

Shego's eyes widened as Kim kept going.

"And I don't _want_ to fight you, not any more, not since I've gotten to know you as a friend. Yes, don't argue, a friend. You picked me up when I was at my lowest, and you kept me going, and you've helped to get me healthy, and I don't believe that you did all that just to kick me back down again."

"What the hell do you want me to say, Kim?" Shego asked softly. "Fine. Yes, I like you. Apparently it's so obvious even you managed to see it. Like I told you, when I was fighting you... it was the best part of the job. The highlight of my week, or fortnight, however long it had been since our last... dance. Yes, I'm glad you're still alive, if you were actually dead, I'm not entirely sure what I'd do - probably burn the entire world down until I found whoever did it and make them suffer for eternity, or as far towards it that I could drag them."

Kim blinked in shock first at the quiet fury in the declaration, and then smiled as the meaning behind them became clearer - for both of them.

"Shit," Shego muttered. "I guess I do like you more than I thought."

Kim's grin widened, and she was about to tease Shego when an alarm went off and part of the sensor net that she'd laid the day before lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Oh for _fucks_ _sake_!" Shego muttered. "Worst timing ever."

"No kidding," Kim replied, sprinting up the ramp of the jet and throwing herself into the chair, looking over the screens. "I have multiple contacts in sector, uh.. four, of the net. Thermal only, they've got camouflage that's making it hard to see them with visual in the woods."

"I see it too," Shego growled, marveling not for the first time at Kim's ability to switch into serious mode like a switch flicking from off to on. Seeing that ability back, after it had gone missing for so long - that was a good sign. Not the best situation for it, but a good sign nonetheless. She stood, stretching her suddenly tight muscles out, and headed for the rear of the jet to grab her gear. She was well aware that she didn't have quite the same ability to instantly focus, and she was still slightly worked up from the conversation that had been interrupted.

Maybe it would be smarter to get out now, and cool off before she had to do the hard yards. She pulled the earpiece from her ankle pocket and tucked it into her ear. "Kim, I'm going to angle in for a look, recon only. I don't think we want to piss these guys off we can avoid it."

As she raced down the ramp, Kim's voice crackled in her ear. "I'm reading several vehicles as well, the targeting system wants to tag them as Humvees."

"Hrmmm… that makes things more complicated. If they've got mounted weaponry, that's bad for me. I know for sure I can handle small arms, but the .50 cal that a Humvee usually mounts tends to scare even me." She dove into the woods and sprinted in the direction of the contacts, her footing secure and never stumbling, even as she swerved around trees and leaped over roots.

"I've got more data coming through - definitely at least one Humvee but I'm seeing a light armored vehicle too. Hang on… I think I've found their frequency.. hah, your ECM suite has already broken their encryption."

"Don't go blasting static down it just yet, Princess," Shego said. "I want to save that to use when we really need it. Go ahead and patch into it - just try to make sure it's receive only, please?"

Kim huffed, and Shego snorted at the reaction. A moment later, the earpiece crackled again as the voice of the leader of their unwelcome visitors came through.

" _Shadow teams one through four, report in ready status - we are thirty minutes from go."_

Shego swore in frustration. "Shit, they're going in _now_? I thought they'd wait for after dark for sure." She swore again as the first troops in the approaching force came into her line of sight and she got a good look at the uniforms they were wearing. "Oh fucking hell, that's _really_ not good," she muttered, forgetting momentarily that Kim was looped into the comm.

"What's not good?"

"These guys, they have a patch on their shoulders that I've seen before."

"What unit?" Kim asked.

"A not very nice unit that's usually deployed to make problematic people in third world countries disappear if they won't deal with Uncle Sam."

"You can't mean Cerberus?" Kim asked in surprise. "They're an urban legend."

"I'm surprised you've even _heard_ of them," Shego said. "But they're very much real."

"You visit enough third world countries and you hear their name whispered," Kim replied. "Though never when people think I can hear them... which now that I think about it, probably says something. How do _you_ know of them?"

"See previous comment about making problematic people disappear."

"They took a shot at you?"

"They _tried_ ," Shego growled, thinking back to the three bullet wounds and several weeks recuperation. "Well and truly pissed me off in the process. Bastards came in hot, tried to kill me from the get go with lethal ordinance."

Kim's voice was quiet. "What happened?"

"The same thing that usually happens when a military force opens fire in a crowded marketplace, Kim. Collateral damage, and lots of it. Lots of civilians who had absolutely nothing to do with it got badly hurt... some of them died from the injuries."

"What did you do?" Kim asked quietly.

"I sent them a message that explained my displeasure in no uncertain terms and suggested that next time I would be far less merciful," Shego replied evenly as she easily kept pace with the recon elements of the force approaching the Space Center. There was no way in hell she was going to tell Kim everything that she'd done - she wasn't exactly proud of what had happened in the aftermath of that attack, even given the extenuating circumstances. Even six years later, she still felt sick to her stomach just thinking about it.

Thankfully, Kim didn't press her. "So why are they here?" she asked instead. "If these are the same guys who hit the GJ storage site…"

"No idea, but Cerberus were run by an asshole named Wallace back when I first ran into them. I don't know if he's still in charge or not, but the fact that they're here, operating on home soil tells me that it's not a good thing for a few reasons."

"The first being _posse comitatus_ has been thrown out the window," Kim guessed.

"Well I'm not entirely sure they're actually ever considered actual Army, so posse comitatus might not be an issue... but our main concern and most pressing issue is that my plan of convincing whoever was attacking the Space Center that pushing on with any attack they started would be a bad idea relied on the force being the type to freak out with the sort of attention I can bring down on them. Cerberus won't flinch - in fact if they realize it's me, it'll probably just make them double down on trying to kill me _first_ and then finishing up raiding the Space Center."

Kim digested that in silence, then sighed heavily. "Okay, we're going to the backup plan," she said.

"We _have_ a backup plan?" Shego asked in surprise. "Why wasn't I informed of this?"

"Consider this me informing you, since I just came up with it."

Shego folded her arms over her chest as she watched the troops forming up, taking care to not give her position away. "This ought to be good," she commented. "Care to share this cunning plan, m'lord?"

Kim either didn't get the reference, or chose to ignore it.

"I'm going to have Wade fake a fire alarm in the Space Center, then I'm going to start a test firing of the rocket in the test bed site on the northern end of the complex - closest to the incoming forces, thankfully - once everyone has evacuated. The noise from _that_ should give us enough cover for me to fly the jet in and land on the roof and you to get to me."

"What about the tech?" Shego asked.

"I'm prepared to concede it to them if it means saving the lives of everyone in the center. If you really don't think you could divert or distract them, we don't have another option."

Shego spent thirty seconds thinking it through, trying to come up with objections and surprisingly not finding any.

 _"All forces this is Cerberus Actual, we have approval from the General, we are moving out as planned. Stand to."_

"Damn, damn, damn. Okay, we'll do it your way," she acceded. "I'm unlocking the jet flight controls for you remotely. Do try not to crash, please."

"I won't," Kim promised, before opening a link to Wade.

"Wade, it's Kim. I need you to hack the Middleton Space Center and trigger the fire alarms."

"What? Why?" He asked suspiciously.

"No time to explain!" Kim said. "I was right - a hostile force _is_ about to raid the space center for the Lowardian technology that my dad and the others are working on, and I need you to sound that alarm so they evacuate before it turns into a bloodbath."

His eyes wide, Wade nodded. "Okay, I'm on it."

 **KP KP KP**

As Shego was working to disengage from the front screen of the Cerberus force without being spotted, the first alarms sounded out from the facility behind her. A moment later, their comm tap copied a panicked broadcast, and the forces near her started milling about. She took advantage of their confusion to slip deeper into the woods and run towards the sirens.

 _"Cerberus Actual, this is Ghost Team 1 - we have alarms coming from the Space Center."_

 _"No kidding, Ghost, we can hear it from here. What the hell did you do?"_

Shego realized to her dismay that there was already a force inside the facility, and picked up even more speed, her feet almost flying across the forest floor, using all her practice and skill to avoid tripping herself - or worse.

 _"I don't think it was us, sir,"_ the voice replied. _"It's not the intruder alarm, it's the fire alarm. There's an automated voice asking all personnel to evacuate."_

 _"Shit!"_ the voice that sounded in charge swore, before another voice came over the frequency.

 _"They're going to be evacuating to a rally point now, probably in the main car park on the south side of the facility.. that might actually make it easier for us, sir, since we were planning to capture the scientists working on the salvaged tech alive. Their security will be busy fighting the fire, we can swoop in and pinch their scientists with no resistance."_

 _"What about the tech?"_ someone asked.

 _"We exercise our discretion. Once we have the staff, and if the fire is in a different area, we grab the salvage as well as the scientists. If it's near our target, we'll have to make do with the stuff we acquired in Canada. Bring the heavy trucks around to a new position near the parking lot - either way, they'll be our ride out. Alright people, move! Double time, our schedule just got bumped up."_

There was a series of acknowledgements and as Shego panted a question to Kim.

"Did you get all that?"

"Sure did. I have Wade working on the startup sequence for the testing facility now - unfortunately it looks like it needs manual engagement of some stuff. I need you to divert to the testing facility - it's the tall square building with the four vent structures spaced around it."

"Am I going to be at a safe distance when you crank this thing?" Shego asked nervously.

"Of course," Kim replied confidently. "No Crispy Fried Shego on the menu tonight."

"I could do without the sarcasm," Shego retorted, breaking into the open and sprinting for the building Kim had described to her, breaking through a locked external door moments after arriving at it. "Alright, I'm here, what am I looking for?"

"Gonna hand you off to Wade to talk you through powering on the fuel pumps and enabling the coolant systems, gotta move the jet out of harm's way - they've diverted part of their force my way, to swing around to the car park assembly point."

"Try not to let them see you," Shego muttered.

"Y'think?" Kim replied, snorting in amusement. "The cloak is already engaged."

As soon as she was gone, Wade was in her ear, talking her through powering on the test bed and engaging the fuel pumps that would deliver the mix of fuel and oxidizer to the engine's combustion chamber.

"Wade, honesty filter on please. Is Kim crazy right now?"

"You mean more crazy than usual?" Wade asked.

Shego shook her head. "Sorry, I momentarily forgot you were the one who _enabled_ her madness for the first four years. This is probably kinda normal for you."

"Says the woman once sucked into television by the Pan Dimensional-"

"Ugh, please do _not_ remind me," Shego groaned. "Look, I think I'm done here. Can I escape ground zero now, please?"

"Sure," Wade replied. "I can run the countdown and do the rest of the power up remotely. Kim wants you to head to the main labs, she thinks that there's some staff inside who haven't evacuated."

"Shit," Shego swore. "You know they're way more likely to think that I started the alarm to steal from them than they are to think I'm there to help, right?"

"Then you'll just have to use some of your famous wit and charm to convince them to leave before Cerberus get there. Which, by the way, could be in the next minute or three."

Shego growled at his mocking tone, but he'd already switched channels, leaving her alone. The silence in the comm chanel was broken a minute later as Shego raced into the main building, Kim's voice returning to her ears.

"Shego, are you inside yet? Have you found anyone?"

"Just made it to the ground floor and starting a sweep, why?"

"I've got Wade doing a headcount in the assembly area and he thinks there's a group of five or six senior scientists missing, as well as at least one security squad."

"Including your dad."

"Of course," Kim said angrily. "He thinks they're all in the main lab which is two stories above you and down a secure corridor. They might have fallen back to protect the Lowardian tech if they suspect the alarm is a fake."

"Wonderful," Shego sighed. "How the hell am I gonna convince them to vacate a secure choke point like that without them shooting me?"

"You'll think of something. Maybe the test fire will convince them."

There was a pause, then Kim's voice came back as Shego sprinted up a stairwell to the level she'd been given.

"Oh this is gonna be great, those bastards won't know what hit them."

Shego worried for a moment at the almost bloodthirsty tone in Kim's voice, but then she had something else to worry about - a noise that started as a low thrum that rattled the building around her but rose to a roar in a heartbeat.

"Holy shit!" She muttered - she was inside a partially soundproofed building over a mile away and it was still ridiculously loud. She couldn't imagine being anywhere near it unprotected and wondered how many people had just been deafened temporarily - or maybe even permanantly.

The roaring seemed to last forever but in reality was probably over in thirty seconds, and Shego paused long enough to gather her wits before she sprinted down the corridor that Kim had indicated led to the main lab.

"Don't shoot!" she screamed as the last of the rocket noise fell away and she slid to a stop in front of several guards and scientists, all pointing an assortment of weapons at her.

"What the hell?" someone asked.

"I'm Shego, and I was sent to get you guys to evacuate. There's a mercenary force about to attack this facility and they're looking to steal the Lowardian technology you've been researching."

There was an outburst of half a dozen voices all at once.

"How do you know about that?"

"Who's attacking?"

"Who sent you?"

"Don't you work for Drakken?"

"Why should we believe you?"

Shego took a deep breath as they started arguing with each other, then screamed.

" **ENOUGH**! I had my associate fake the fire alarm to get you to evacuate and we fired the test rocket to distract and slow them down, but slow them down is _all_ that it will do. I am going to leave now, and anyone who wishes to throw their life away for a stupid piece of metal can stay here and die pointlessly. Everyone else..."

Shego trailed off and shot them a winning grin.

"Come with me if you want to live."

A simultaneous groan came from both Wade and Kim through her earpiece, but she was too amused to let their mockery ruin her moment. _I a_ _lways did want to say that to someone,_ she thought smugly to herself.

Thankfully, it looked like the scientists and security guards were going to follow her lead, and she watched as they lowered their guns and started to come out from their hastily prepared barricades.

"Is this everyone?" she asked as the group filed past her.

"It's everyone who was in the labs when the alarm started," one of the security guards replied.

"Oh yeah?" Shego replied. "So where's Dr Possible?"

"Shit!" The guard swore. "When did he disappear?"

"He broke off at the last minute when we were coming here," one of the scientists replied. "He was heading towards the offices."

Shego swore and took off towards the exits, leading them out onto a second floor mezzanine level over the lobby. "Shit shit shit, I can't herd you lot to safety and chase after him at the same-"

She broke off and plowed into a security guard, tackling him to the ground and saving his life as a storm of bullets buzzed through the spot he'd been standing a moment before.

As she rolled to her feet, she saw one of the scientists take several rounds to his shoulder and arm, and fall to the ground, his mouth opening in a wordless scream of agony. The other security guards around her reacted to the threat and pulled the remaining scientists to the ground, giving them cover behind their own bodies.

Shego had a brief second to admire their courage before two of them took shots to the chest, one screaming, the other slumping, obviously dead.

 _Fuck, can't let us get pinned and flanked_ , she thought.

"Cover fire!" she shouted at the remaining uninjured guards, and the three of them aimed their rifles through the railing and fired a dozen rounds each indiscriminately into the open plan office space below.

Shego took the opportunity afforded by the momentary respite in gunfire that earned them, leaping up and over the barrier, both hands flaming. She spun twice in the air and landed in a low crouch, straightening to whirl first left and then right, throwing concussive plasma blasts at two troopers nearest to her.

Rolling out of the way of the return fire that brought upon her, she grinned hugely when she heard someone scream into the comms she still had a hack into.

 _"Shego is here! I repeat, Shego is here! Go to plan Gamma! Somebody fucking **shoot** her!"_

She searched for the yelling trooper and spotted him crouched behind a desk ten meters away from her. Summoning a large ball of plasma, she tossed it straight at the desk, causing it to explode into fragments, the force carrying part of it and the soldier behind it into the open, where another concussive blast sent him spinning away into a wall.

The scream that cut off as his head slammed into the wall and knocked him out was immensely satisfying, the hail of lead from another squad charging into the offices was not.

She ducked back into cover and made her way around the office slowly, tracking the progress of the security guards and scientists, now carrying their wounded and dead, above her, doing her best to keep the Cerberus troops totally focused on avoiding her plasma, not giving them a chance to take potshots at the vulnerable injured.

It wasn't until she heard the door behind her burst open and two _more_ squads of troops charged in that she acknowledged the old maxim that discretion was the better part of valor and leaped in a single hop back up to the catwalk above, a final half dozen rapid fire plasma darts fired into desks causing maximum chaos below her, and one memorably (and unintentionally) well placed one detonating a fire extinguisher in a blast of choking dry ice that halted the charge of the new squads long enough for her to hustle the last guards out the door and into the next section of the building, slamming the heavy security door closed and slagging the electronic lock behind her.

"Wade!" she shouted. "They're inside and Dr Possible is off doing something stupid! I'm with the last group of scientists and guards, trying to get their wounded to safety, but I've got my hands full!"

"I see him," Wade said. "Security camera shows him in his office - looks like he's working on his computer."

"This is no time for Minesweeper!" Shego shouted. "Why the hell is he on his computer?"

"Backups!" one of the labcoats told her. "He's probably deleting the center's mainframe and securing the backups!"

"Shit!" Shego swore again. "I can't get there from here, not without going through at least fifty troops! Why does he have to try and be a goddamned hero?"

"Runs in the family," Wade whispered. Something in his voice made her blood run cold.

"Wade... Please tell me-"

"She didn't stay on the jet," he replied, expecting the question.

"Oh for gods sake!" Shego screamed. "I'll bloody kill her!" The security guards and scientists around her backed away in fear until she took a ragged breath and forced the plasma around her fists to a lower level of intensity and started moving again, gesturing for them to follow her and hurry.

A minute later, she finally got them to a secondary exit, where two more squads of security guards were just arriving. "You've gotta get everyone pulled back from the car park!" Shego shouted as they rushed over. "The hostile force attacking the center is looking to capture scientists, and they know the rally point for an evacuation."

"Then it's a good thing that the National Guard force is here," one guard commented, and Shego felt her blood chill yet again.

"Who?" she asked, in a deceptively calm voice.

"They arrived a few minutes ago, said they were on a training exercise nearby and heard the alarms, they offered to evacuate our scientists."

She was off and running before he'd even finished the sentence, sprinting around the corner to see two APC's she assumed were carrying the scientists already speeding away from the car park. She screamed her frustration and hurled the largest concussion blast she could summon on short notice at the rear vehicle.

The shot was a lucky one, blasting the track clear off the right side and causing the vehicle to slide wildly before rolling and coming to rest on one side. Several soldiers spilled out of the vehicle, and while most looked dazed from the sudden stop, before she could close on them one regathered his wits, pulling a dazed scientist up in front of him as a human shield, his gun pointed at the blonde woman's head.

"That's close enough, Shego!" He shouted. "Or this scientist gets it!"

Before Shego could tell him to go fuck himself and blast him, another scientist had climbed from the wreck, and reached out for the soldier, his hand clamped down on the wrist, tightening with such force that Shego could hear the bones snapping even at her distance. The soldier screamed as his hand was pulped, the handle of the gun cracking as the inexorable crushing pressure increased.

"Oliver!" the blonde screamed. "You're hurting him!"

The man released the hand, and the soldier dropped to the ground, clutching the ruined hand to his belly before curling into a ball, continuing to scream. Shego closed the distance to the truck and kicked the ruined gun away before collecting the weapons of the other soldiers who stood gaping at the unassuming looking man hovering protectively over the diminutive woman in the lab coat.

"I apologize, Dr Porter, but I could not allow him to hurt you. When faced with such a decision, my course of action was clear - non lethally disable the attacker."

"But.. you hurt.."

"Lady, be thankful he was here - I don't know if I could have stopped that asshole from killing you," Shego growled, throwing a carefully measured kick to the man's head, sending him into unconsciousness and silencing him. She looked back up at the man who had come to the rescue, and blinked suddenly when she got the weirdest vibe from him. "You've got quite a grip."

"Well, my servomotors are strong enough to bend steel," he started, before being hushed by the woman.

"Holy shit, you're a robot," Shego realized.

"I prefer the term Android," he replied calmly.

"Oliver is my creation," the woman said quietly. "And I can't believe he hurt someone…"

"It was either that guy's hand or your head, doc," Shego muttered. "I'm glad he chose the hand, frankly." She shook her head at the doctor's peculiarity. "Oliver, any chance you could help me pry open the back of this carrier? I think there's some more of your friends stuck inside."

"I have a better idea," he replied, leaning down and casually righting the vehicle to its normal orientation.

"That also works," Shego said, nonplussed at the show of strength she would have been hard pressed to match. "Wade! I've stopped one APC but another one is getting away with some other scientists on it. Can you track it, and vector in someone to help? I'm fresh out of juice."

"I'll see what I can do," Wade replied wearily. "But the police aren't going to stop an Army truck."

"I know, I was just.." Shego trailed off. "Any update on the Princess? What's that idiot up to?"

* * *

 **A/N:** Dun dun duuuuuun. My first (sort of) cliffhanger. Where's Kim? Will she make it in time to save her father? Find out next time! Same KP time, Same KP... oh, you get the idea. How'd I do for an action packed second half? I hope you liked it.

The next chapter will hopefully be up relatively quick - I don't want to leave you hanging _too_ long. I don't really enjoy cliffhangers myself, so I'll try not to inflict them.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note** : Told you I wouldn't make you wait long! Warning, some seriously testing times ahead for KP. The real world is about to intrude on her in a big way... but first, one of those little interludes I mentioned not fitting in the middle of last chapter is here to kick off the start of this chapter. And it'll have some pretty major impacts, despite being a small-ish part of the chapter. Hope you enjoy the new chapter.

My thanks to everyone who has read and left a review, or added me to their favorites/alerts, I appreciate it as always.

 **Standard Disclaimer:** The various characters from the Kim Possible series are all owned by Disney. All registered trade names property of their respective owners. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

* * *

 **Kim Possible: Shadow Plays**

 **Chapter Ten** :

 **KP KP KP**

 _New York City_ :

If there was one thing Jack Hench hated doing more than anything else in the world, it was getting his hands dirty. Being directly involved with any of his numerous less-than-legal ventures was bad for business. Being directly involved increased his risks exponentially. Being directly involved took his time away from other parts of HenchCo that needed almost constant attention.

Being directly involved was risky and messy and dangerous, three things Jack had avoided at all costs for the vast majority of his life.

Unfortunately, there were times where only direct involvement would do. This was one of those times.

Fortunately, if things went according to plan in the next few minutes, one more piece of the puzzle would fall into place and his plans would be that much closer to complete… and he wouldn't have to do this again in a hurry.

As the limo pulled up to a nondescript office tower, a message from his senior Hench commander arrived on his secure HenchCo phone. With a sense of building anticipation, Jack opened the message and read it.

 _Senior Island taken. No casualties. Commencing interrogations._

He smiled, and composed a message to the number.

 _Commander Michaels, excellent work securing Senior Island. Senior knows where Betty Director is, and I suspect he knows where Shego is too. I want that information. Any means necessary. Use the family for leverage if you have to._

After sending the message, he thought for a second, and composed another.

 _Also, the regular Henches are a... liability. We can't afford for any word of this to leak, not with what's at stake. I regret the necessity of putting you in this position. Additionally, be prepared for any unexpected visitors. Ensure that anyone that lands never leaves that island - unless I clear them myself. And if you happen to see Shego… kill the bitch._

Jack regretted the hit to the bottom line that each dead Hench represented - the training costs for a single Hench were not insignificant, so throwing them away was only ever a last resort - even in a worst case scenario.

 _Though if I go through with the next steps, the Hench division is going to be_ severely _downsized anyway_ , Jack thought. _So what's a few early… retirements._

Slipping his phone into his pocket, Jack stepped out of the limo and strode into the office tower with a renewed sense of purpose. He called a specific lift, one that only had a single destination - the top floor - and steeled himself for the confrontation to come.

He pushed open the doors -

"Hello, Jack. It's nice of you to finally show up." Vinnie Wheeler's smarmy voice floated to him over the (fake) mahogany desk. The leather backed chair spun around to reveal the sleazy scumbag in another ridiculous suit. Jack faked a scowl as he strode up to the desk.

"Vinnie. I'm not some servant at your beck and call. HenchCo is a busy company, and my time is at a premium."

"My word, Jack, there's no need to be so… hostile. Are you under a lot of stress at the moment? I can help with that, you know! I'm sure I know many talented folk who'd be _delighted_ to take the reins and help HenchCo through this… difficult… time."

This time, Jack didn't have to fake the scowl, it stayed in place naturally. _Fuck you, Vinnie. The sooner you are out of my hair permanently, the better._

"Well.. yes, I'm under stress," he said slowly, as if unwilling to admit weakness. "But it's not something you could get rid of by taking HenchCo from me. And infact, I think you ought to be more worried about it than I."

"Oh? How come?" Vinnie asked.

"Your plan backfired," Jack said simply. "Remember the whole 'If we remove Kim Possible, nobody else will interfere' line you fed me? Well, you were wrong."

Vinnie folded his hands together in his lap. "Remind me Jack, who was it that couldn't _find_ Kim Possible when we agreed to explore the options available to us?"

Jack's scowl deepened. "Look, the crazy bitch disappeared in Japan somewhere and it didn't matter how much money I spent, I could never find her. It was _your_ idea to have a fake in place. Unfortunately… that plan has backfired as well."

"How?" Vinnie exclaimed. "The impersonation was perfect."

"Yeah, well, the cleanup wasn't. Shego and Betty Director were both spotted on Senior Island recently, then Shego made a raid on the FBI HQ, where they were keeping the fake body."

Vinnie paled.

"And I just got word that _someone_ is working their way through anyone connected. Senator Willard's dead. Senator McCallum is dead. Senator Roberts is dead." _Or he will be any second now, if things went according to plan for once!_ "I can't help but think that they're trying to find out who's behind the fake."

"That's not Shego's style. Or Director's," Vinnie pointed out. "Who else would be searching?"

"Maybe the person we hired to take out Kim Possible discovered that we'd played them for a fool," Jack suggested quietly. "Maybe they're not happy about being used."

Vinnie's paled further, and his eyes narrowed.

"Maybe," Jack added. "They discovered who was used as the fake.. and they don't appreciate having been hired to murder one of their own."

"And how exactly would they have found this out?" he asked.

Jack shrugged. "It sure as hell wasn't from me. I aimed her at Director, gave her the best possible shot in Ohio," he said. "Maybe she overheard something she wasn't supposed to, and got suspicious. All I know is, I'm not going back to HenchCo HQ after we're done here."

"What? I thought you said HenchCo was a busy company," Vinnie said, a mocking tone returning slightly to his voice. "I thought you said your time was at a premium."

"Oh, it is, don't you worry. But I'm not going to be running HenchCo from my headquarters any more. Too many people know where it is to be safe right now. I have my alternatives in place. I suggest you do the same," he said.

Vinnie blinked. "I… I don't really have…"

Jack smiled widely. "My friend, I believe I have just the thing to help you out."

He pulled out a half dozen pages, stapled together, from inside his jacket, and passed them over carefully.

"What… what is this?" Vinnie asked.

"This… this is an opportunity! It's an investment in your safety! It is a new beginning for Vinnie Wheeler… this is a standard HenchCo Rent-a-Lair contract."

Jack paused, made sure Vinnie was looking straight at him, and launched into his spiel. "It's for a new facility, just recently opened, _never yet hired!_ It's our top of the line Class 5S model, and it has four levels, with multiple configuration options available - we'd just need five days to get it to your specifications _or_ of course you can take the default configuration as is, with a hangar, barracks and training room, scientific laboratory fitted with all the standard mod cons, security room including four HenchCo Mark Sixteen Inescapable Holding Cells, and the _pièce de résistance_ : a Central Control room on the lowest level, complete with master control panels in the arms of your luxury leather command chair, and giant wall screen for monitoring not only the lair, but the _world!_ It also comes standard with a self-contained power supply good for at least 10 years radiation free clean fusion power, all rations and luxury supplies are included for the length of your rental, and, last but not least, it grants you an all important HenchCo Black Card, which guarantees you a 15% discount on any future rentals or rental extensions, as well as a 5% discount in the HenchCo store off your next order (worth five million or more). The initial rental term is 30 days, with an optional extension to 90 days after the first week of occupancy - assuming that you're satisfied of course. Oh, and I'll throw in a free 10 Hench hire package as a special sweetener, just because you're _you_ , Vinnie."

"I don't…"

"Vinnie. Listen to me. If we are at risk of being exposed, we need to have a place to retreat to - you need a place to hide, I have a brand new Rent-a-Lair looking for it's first ever tenant at the moment, it's _perfect_."

 _So perfect that it could have been scripted, in fact. Take the offer, Wheeler, just take it._

"Why are you offering me this?" Vinnie asked, a trace of suspicion on his weasel face.

"Because I realised that we _are_ partners, even if we don't necessarily like it. Neither of us can do this without the other," Jack said. "The plans we agreed up on need the two of us to pull off."

 _Pity for you I have no intention on going through with the plan we previously agreed upon. But you'll never know that until it's far, far too late._

Vinnie nodded. "True. Say… only 10 Henches?"

"Did I say ten?" Jack said, beaming. "I meant for a facility that size, it'll have to be at _least_ fifty. It'll make you feel extra safe, having some decent manpower around. My boys aren't slackers, either."

Outside, the smile never wavered. Inside, he was calculating, however. He'd have to make sure that they could handle yet another unexpected cost to the Hench division when he got back. Beau was probably going to yell at him for overextending them yet again, but the short term pain would be _absolutely_ worth it in the long run. Beau just couldn't know why until the deal was sealed.

They just had to avoid completely collapsing HenchCo before everything played out.

Speaking of deals, Vinnie pulled a pen from his desk drawer and signed the lair rental agreement with a flourish. Jack held his inner evil grin in check, and plastered only a smug, satisfied smile on his face. "Congratulations, you're the proud renter of a brand new Rent-a-Lair in picturesque Georgia. Here's the fine details of the Rent-a-Lair tenancy agreements, including our NDA, our Indemnity and Disavowal policies, as well as the master key, command codes, and your Black Card." He handed over another bunch of papers, as well as an envelope with the latter items.

"Jack… do you think…" Vinnie trailed off.

"I do," he said, nodding seriously. "I'm going to mine, you should make plans to move to yours immediately. We can stay in touch, once you're set the command system has a direct link to the HenchCo network, it'll be like we were standing this close again, trust me."

Five minutes later, Jack was in his car, headed to the airport, and his encrypted phone was by his ear.

"It's me," he said. "You've done good work so far, apart from the failure to eliminate Betty Director in Ohio. However, I believe I've just manufactured an opportunity for you to redeem yourself. I have intel that suggests her next target location - a new facility of mine, just recently opened. I don't know how she knows about it, but I want you to get there and get ready to engage her when she makes her move. Oh, and there's a new tenant moving in shortly," Jack added. "I would like you to stay incognito. That's not going to be a problem, is it?"

He paused, then smiled widely. "Good to hear. Now.. the facility is in Georgia… here's the master access codes you'll need to slip in and disguise yourself as a newly hired Hench…"

 **KP KP KP**

 _Middleton, Colorado:_

As soon as Shego had called in that she was under attack and covering a group of scientists, but her father wasn't with them, Kim had started to worry. When Wade had confirmed he was in his office, she had bolted from Shego's jet, pausing only to grab two items on her way out and slamming the ramp closed as soon as she'd pulled them both on.

Kim wasn't sure exactly what she was doing - all that was moving her forward was a single thought that ran over and over through her mind:

 _I will **not** let them hurt my Dad!_

Everything else - the fear, the nausea, the pain of her still healing body - it was all pushed aside by an overpowering need to find and protect her dad from the Cerberus troops currently storming the Space Center. She could hear gunshots and explosions from inside the building as she burst through the roof doors and into the facility proper, and picked up her pace, wincing as her legs protested their first full workout in months.

Luckily for her, Wade had been as good as his word in respect to having something ready to help her out. He'd originally designed the bodysuit that she'd hurriedly pulled on as a support to help get her back into shape, after he'd seen the extent of the surgeries she'd required. Kim had seen another use for it in her moment of desperation - as an improvised battlesuit.

A tingle ran through her legs as the suit adjusted and compensated for still slightly out of shape legs, and all of a sudden her stride became easier as the artificial muscles in the suits legs began to assist her.

As she ran through the top floor of the Space Center's main offices she had a sudden realization. _My hair might still be short and blonde, but my_ face _is kind of recognizable... so I'll have to hide it. I can't let anyone know I'm alive and back in action just yet, and I_ definitely _can't let Dad see me - uhoh!_

A pair of soldiers in camouflage uniforms and wearing black balaclavas over their face rounded the corner ahead of her. She dove sideways into an office and a dozen rounds from the stocky submachine guns they were carrying streamed past her.

Looking around the room, Kim took stock of her options, and decided she really didn't want the soldiers throwing flashbangs into the confined space. As she heard the two soldiers race up the corridor towards the door, she threw a conveniently placed office chair through the window to the outside before ducking back behind the desk. The soldiers charged into the room, guns at the ready, and stopped in apparent dismay as they took in the broken window.

"Aww, damn," one muttered. "I thought we'd cornered someone and we might get to have a little fun."

"Look, the window's been blown out," the other replied. "What if it was Shego and she ran?"

"If it was I wish she'd stayed and fought!" the first soldier declared hotly. "I'd certainly have enjoyed putting a few rounds into that green bitch after what she did to us a few years back."

Before she knew what she was doing, Kim was flying out of her improvised hiding spot. She moved with barely a whisper of sound, but both men were professionals and were turning towards her even as she leaped. They were too slow however, and she was on them before they could bring the guns to bear on her without risking hitting each other. She ducked a sloppy punch from one and slammed a palm strike upwards to the base of his jaw, his teeth slamming together and severing the tip of his tongue.

That soldier was immediately out of the fight, dropping the gun and falling to the ground, screaming through his hands as blood poured out. Ignoring his cries, Kim blocked a punch from the other with both hands then lashed out with kick after kick into his stomach, ribs and face. The trooper - the one who'd declared he would have enjoyed shooting Shego - looked completely surprised by her repeated attacks and his inability to defend them until she heard something crack in his rib cage and his eyes glazed over. She grabbed him with her hands and then spun him until he landed flat on his back, before delivered another kick to his solar plexus for good measure.

"I certainly enjoyed putting a few boots into you," she muttered angrily, as she pulled the balaclava off his head, and then over her own, ignoring the musky smell of sweat. She adjusted it until the eyes were okay to see from, then with calm precision, she punched the first soldier, currently curled into the fetal position, just hard enough in the side of his head to send him into unconsciousness. She took a second to look over their equipment, grabbing a couple of items that would probably prove useful.

 _Now I have go find Dad and make sure he's okay_ , she thought.

She vaguely heard Wade or Shego calling her name repeatedly over the earpiece she'd absently tucked into her ear but in her tunnel vision focus on her father, she didn't acknowledge or respond to either of them as she made her way further into the building.

Having been in the Space Center more times than she could count, thanks to her Dad's insistence on joining the Rocket Boosters club - and continuing to attend their open days long past any semblance of it being _remotely_ cool - she knew her way around well enough to find her way to his office without trouble, dodging several sweeping patrols of soldiers in the process, dispatching one group of three when cornered with no convenient hiding space.

Just as she made it to the section her father's office was in, she spotted a pair of troops at the door. As she peeked around the corner, another squad of six soldiers, all heavily armed and with a door breaking device, swept into the corridor ahead of her. Kim trailed stealthily along behind them as they marched down the hall and stopped outside her Dad's office. As she ducked into an office closer to his, she heard a voice call out.

"Last chance, Dr Possible. We know you're in there. Open the door, or we open it and come in, and you won't like the consequences."

There was a resounding silence from the office, and Kim heard a muttered curse from ahead, then a voice came over the comm link she was still hooked into..

 _"Cerberus Actual, this is Ghost Team Four. We've cornered a Dr Possible in his office, but he's refusing to exit."_

 _"Copy, Team Four, this is Cerberus Actual. You're authorized to breach and neutralize."_

 _"Say again, Actual? Neutralize?"_

 _"Affirmative, Four. We have enough of the scientists. One more won't make a difference."_

There was a brief moment of silence then a sigh. _"Understood, Actual. Stand by."_

Kim felt everything that had been bothering her retreat even further away, as if taken back out to sea by a wave. Nothing mattered except stopping the soldiers from killing her dad.

She looked down and smiled grimly as she realized the two flashbang grenades she'd picked up from her first encounter were already in her hands, just waiting to be used.

She primed both, then rolled them down the corridor, ducking back into the office and holding her hands over her ears and squeezing her eyes shut tight. Despite the precautions, the sound was immense, and the shock wave thumped into her back through the wall, kicking her into action.

She spun out into a corridor full of pandemonium. The soldiers were in total disarray. Two that were closest to the scorch marks of the grenade's detonation points were slumped on their backsides, leaning against the wall, looking completely stunned, not moving. The other six were still on their feet, but most had their hands to their ears, or were feeling for the wall, the afterimage of the flash of light still burning in their eyes.

Kim took full advantage of their confusion and swept into them, showing no mercy or quarter to them at all. She pulled none of her strikes, hitting faces, eyes, ears, and groins with fists, fingers and boots. One soldier, that Kim realized had been farthest from the grenades, eventually managed to bring his gun around in her general direction, but before he could fire, she pulled another trooper between them, using his body first as a human shield, then as a battering ram.

She heard gunshots ring out, and the body she was holding jerked with each shot, starting to collapse even as they approached the shooter. Kim screamed in fury, slamming the dead or dying soldier into his compatriot, before leaping up and over, landing on the shoulders of the shooter locking her legs around his head and throwing herself backwards, flipping him over her as she finished her backwards roll, and the soldier went flying, slamming into the wall, then the ground, with a pair of sickening crunching sounds.

As she came back to herself, breathing heavily, she realized that his head was at an unsurvivable angle, and his eyes were open but unseeing, staring accusingly past her eyes and into her soul.

 _You killed me_ , his eyes said. _Kim Possible killed me. Kim Possible is a_ killer.

 _Kim Possible will_ **always** _be a_ **killer** _._

She fought the urge to vomit that threatened to overpower her, crushing the resurgent nausea with every last ounce of control she could manage to find within her, even as she kicked two more guns out of twitching hands, seized one and pointing it at the final two conscious troopers, who gingerly held their hands up in surrender.

"Doctor Possible?" Kim called through the door, trying to disguise her voice - not exactly a difficult task given the bile that burned in her throat. "I have stopped the soldiers who were trying to kill you, please open the door now."

There was a brief silence, then her father's voice came from the other side. "How can I trust you?"

Kim frowned under her balaclava. "Wade Load sent me," she said, and a moment later she heard the lock in the door turning before it was pulled it open and her father stood staring at her.

For a brief second, she stared in shock. James Possible looked… _old_. No, weary might be the better term for it. Under his eyes, she could see the signs of lack of sleep, and the fine lines around his eyes had grown more pronounced and obvious… but the biggest change was his hair - where once a single strip of white had accented his hair at each side, now most of his brown hair was laced with grey. But rather than making him distinguished, it just added to the impression of deep sadness that poured from him.

Kim had to clamp down on the desire to throw herself into his arms to comfort him - and be comforted in return - for just a moment her weakness took hold, pushing her a step forward, but freezing the instant she saw him flinch away. A combination of terror, guilt, and self loathing surged through her, hurting more than any punch she had ever taken, sending her to her knees. She struggled to breathe through the emotions that rolled over and through her.

"Are you okay?" he asked softly, concern laced through his voice. He stepped forward, crouched beside her, and gently laid a hand on her shoulder. For half a second, Kim was six again, her knee badly skinned after a somersault went wrong, and her Dad was comforting her while Mom went off to get the first aid kid.

 _Daddy!_ she cried inside her head. _I've missed you so much!_ Without thinking, her hand came up to grasp his and squeeze tight, but before she could, reality asserted itself.

" _Kim, if you're listening, I hope to god you have your father. I'm at the jet on the roof. We need to go, now!"_ Shego's urgent voice through her earpiece finally brought her focus back.

 _No! I can't let him realize it's me…_

Through sheer force of will, she struggled her way to her feet, shrugging off his hand and mourning the loss of his touch the instant the connection between them was broken.

"I'm fine," she insisted, her throat tight with the effort of the lie. "We should move. Cerberus might have more troops on the way."

Her father looked around for the first time, blinking in surprise as he took in the carnage outside the door. Her eyes followed his as they eventually settled on the two dead bodies - a pool of blood slowly spreading around one, the other with it's accusing eyes still seeming to bore into Kim's soul.

She forced herself again to look away from the bodies, noticing that her father was also stuck staring at them, little tremors in his hands and repeated swallowing the giveaway that he was upset and afraid at the same time.

"Don't look," she whispered, grabbing his elbow and pulling him down the corridor, away from the evidence of her biggest ever failure. "Transport is on the roof."

As they retreated, Kim kept the conscious soldiers covered with the submachine gun she'd picked up until they had made it around several corners. When she realized she was still holding it, she threw it as hard as she could through a door into an office before looking down at her hands. She was surprised she couldn't see the blood on them, even through the gloves.

"You said Wade sent you?" her father asked curiously after a few seconds, as if to prompt her out of the freeze she was in.

"Y-Yeah," she stammered, then remembered to drop her voice low. "He hired me and my.. uh.. friend.. to protect you and the others."

He looked at her suspiciously again. "This friend of yours have a name?" he asked. "Do _you_ have a name?" Kim cursed herself for even giving that much information away, but nodded. "Would I know it?" he pressed.

 _Oh Dad, you have no idea..._

She nodded again, then held a gloved finger up to her masked lips, in the universal 'be quiet' sign.

He frowned, but she grabbed his elbow and pulled him along, retracing her steps back towards the rooftop the jet was on, thankfully avoiding any further soldiers as the gunfire below them slowly died out.

When they reached the roof, Kim recognized the figure standing at the foot of the ramp to the familiar green and black jet, and used her father's surprise to vanish from his side.

"Shego?" he asked curiously. "What are you.. hey, where'd she go?"

"Who?" Shego asked innocently. "Good thing you made it here, it's messy down there. I'm going to get you home, so get your butt on board."

Dr Possible spun a complete 360, looking around the rooftop but seeing no sign of the black-clad woman who had saved him and dragged him to the roof.

"How did you know I was going to be here?" he asked.

Shego shook her head. "No time to explain, Doc. Get on, or be left at the mercy of some very angry soldiers."

He blinked twice, then hurried forward, strapping into a jumpseat in the main cabin while Shego slapped the close button on the ramp and slipped past him into the cockpit.

"You okay, Princess?" she whispered into her mic as she settled into the seat and powered up.

"Y.. Ye.. No, not really," Kim replied equally quietly, still hiding out on the rooftop as the VTOL lifted off and banked into the distance. "Come back for me. I just couldn't.. let him realize.."

She broke off and a gut wrenching sob escaped her.

"I understand," Shego said soothingly, not fully aware of why Kim was suffering right now. "I'll be right back, I promise."

 **KP KP KP**

Five minutes later, Shego settled the VTOL to the ground outside the rebuilt Possible house, and slipped out of the pilot's seat to open the rear hatch, then waved for Dr Possible to follow her. She kept her head on a swivel, looking left and right for any threats, but saw nothing out of the ordinary - for this street, anyway.

As she hustled Kim's father to the door, he fired a barrage of questions at her, which she continued to ignore, up until the point that he reached the door and it opened, revealing Kim's mother standing on the doorstep, a frightened look on her face.

"James!" she cried, and threw her arms around him. "I heard there was something happening at the Space Center!"

"I'm fine, Anne," he said softly, holding her tight, before reaching out and slamming a hand on the wall beside the front door.

Before she could react, a force field shimmered into existence around Shego, and it held up rather easily to the first three plasma blasts she threw at it. She sighed and dismissed the glow around her fists, scowling at the scientist and his wife.

"What the hell?" she complained. "I save your ass, and this is the thanks I get?"

"I need you to answer some questions," James said forcefully.

"Shego rescued you?" Anne asked curiously.

"Later," he said, waving his wife back. "Shego, I need you to tell me the truth. What were you doing there?"

"I got a heads up from Global Justice that there might be an attack on the Space Center," she replied, being mostly truthful.

"How? Why? Who are you in touch with at Global Justice?" he demanded, and Shego swore internally when she realized that Kim's parents must still suspect GJ had been behind Kim's 'assassination'.

"I've been working with Dr Director since… well, for a while," Shego replied, desperately trying to find a way to assuage their fears without having to reveal their daughter's survival yet. She was furious at herself for letting them back her into a corner like this.

"I don't believe she was responsible for what happened," she added. "Betty would never have done that, not to anyone, but especially not to Kim. It's no secret she wanted to hire her, before.."

"Why would someone attack the Space Center?" Anne asked, ignoring her reassurances.

Shego looked directly at James. "He's working on Lowardian tech scavenged from the ship Ron brought down. So was GJ. When everything went down in Washington," she said, then mentally kicked herself again when both Possible parents visibly winced. "GJ had a secure facility in Canada with a _lot_ more than what you were working on, and it was raided. Everything gone. That's why they were after your colleagues, too. I suspect they're looking for people with the expertise to work on it."

James nodded thoughtfully. "We always knew there was more material, we just didn't know who had it."

"GJ thinks it's too dangerous to let any one nation have it," Shego muttered.

"They might be right," James said, surprising her, then surprising her again by deactivating the force field. "Sorry.. I just… I had to know a few things."

Shego nodded, she understood that need. "Look, I hate to say it.. but you guys are targets now. They'll know you escaped the attack on the Space Center, and they could be coming for you still. You represent a threat to whatever it is they're planning."

"What _are_ they planning?" Anne asked, holding tight to her husband.

"I don't know," Shego replied. "But we're going to find out."

"We?" James and Ann asked simultaneously.

Shego mentally kicked herself for the third time. _I'm really not in best form right now_ , she thought to herself. _Worried about Kim_. _But so would they be, if they only knew…_

"Yeah, 'we'," she replied. "Wade and I. We plan to keep looking until we find the bastards responsible. But like I said, you're a target now.. and so are Kim's brothers."

Both parents laughed darkly at that. "Anyone who goes after those two has no idea what they're letting themselves in for. There's nothing in the world that could possibly threaten the boys."

Shego spoke before thinking - again. "Kim probably thought the same thing."

The moment the words were out of her mouth, she wanted to either scoop them back in or disappear into the ground, or find a way to travel through time and shoot herself. Both of Kim's parents visibly deflated, and a look of total defeat washed over Anne's eyes. She sagged, and it was only James' strong arm around her that kept the elder redhead standing..

"I'm sorry," Shego whispered. "I'm so.. I didn't mean.. I.."

She turned and stalked angrily away towards her jet, tears welling in her eyes as she realized just how much she'd hurt Kim's parents. More than a small part of the anger that raced through her was at herself for even feeling upset in the first place. _I don't need this shit_.

 _Maybe this is the price for getting close to someone again_ , a traitorous part of her mind suggested.

"Shego?" James called out as she reached the ramp of the jet. She stopped, but didn't turn around. She couldn't bring herself to face them - either of them.

"Thank you for looking for her with Wade, before," he called. "And thank you for looking for whoever…" He trailed off.

She nodded a couple of times to show she understood, and kept her face hidden so the emotions swirling around on it wouldn't be seen. She strode up the ramp, slapping the close button on the way past then sinking into the pilot seat and powering the jet up entirely by muscle memory and not conscious thought.

As she pulled into the sky and re-engaged stealth mode, she couldn't help but see the crushed look in Anne's eyes over and over again as she reminded the doctor of her daughter's apparent death.

 _Congratulations, you heartless bitch. You really are an awful person,_ she thought to herself. _I guess it comes from being out of practice dealing with normal people. Too much time spent with Drakken. Even so… was it really necessary to go and crush the Princess' parents like that?_

"Fuck!" she swore loudly, and then jumped when Kim's voice came back to her.

"What's wrong?" she asked softly.

"It's.. I'll explain in a second. Shouldn't I be the one asking you that, anyway?" Shego said, and heard a little hiccup through the earpiece. "Where are you, Princess?"

"I'm still on the rooftop," Kim replied a few moments later. "Coming to pick me up?"

"You bet," Shego said. "And after this stunt, I'm not letting you out of my sight."

Kim's sigh was audible enough to bring a slight smile through the angry tears that refused to stop forming in her eyes.

"No attitude, Possible," she said as she slipped the jet into hover mode and crept over the Space Center rooftop. "I'm here, opening the ramp now."

A moment later, the jet rocked slightly as Kim boarded, and then the hatch was rising. Shego fed power to the turbines and the jet lifted into the sky again. She got them clear of Middleton, then turned them back towards Australia and hit the autopilot.

 _Time to go face the music_ , she thought to herself, and rubbed briefly at her eyes with the back of her gloves.

Kim looked up as Shego slipped back into the rear of the VTOL and received a sad smile from the green skinned woman, which morphed into a frown as she caught sight of a black-clad form slumped on the floor.

"Who the hell is that?" Shego asked.

"Dunno," Kim said with a shrug. "He surprised me on the roof while I was waiting for you. I guess he heard you take off, maybe? Anyway, he saw me without the balaclava, and he recognized me, even with the different hair."

"What!?" Shego said.

"I don't know how, but he definitely recognized who I was… I couldn't leave him there to tell everyone but… but… I couldn't…"

Kim trailed off and Shego filled in the end of the sentence in her head. _Couldn't just kill him. Oh Princess._ She decided to take the guilt away.

"Maybe this was the smart call anyway, Princess. I figured we could ask him who's calling the shots when he wakes up."

Kim nodded dumbly, and hunched back down in her seat. Shego walked over to Kim and crouched down in front of her.

"Hey, Kimmie.. look.. I need to apologize, okay?"

Kim gave Shego a shocked look. "What for?" she asked guardedly.

"When I dropped your dad off home, he caught me in some kind of force field cage-"

Kim burst into sudden mournful laughter that had no joy or warmth in it at all. "The 'Mormon Catcher?' I can't believe my parents let the twins keep that installed.. I'm guess now they'll have to change the name now to the Shego Catcher."

"Very funny," Shego said. "Before they let me out, they were grilling me on who was attacking the Space Center, why, and why I was there."

Kim tensed and looked at her. "What did you tell them?"

"A modified truth," Shego said. "Enough truth to convince them to let me go."

"So what's the problem?" Kim asked, giving her a confused look.

"Well, I also told them that they were targets now, because it's a sure bet whoever is behind the Cerberus raid knows about your Dad escaping now, even if they don't know everything because Wade took the cameras down when you made your move, and I suggested that the twins were a target too, and they laughed it off."

Kim nodded her agreement.

"And then I told them that you had probably hadn't considered anyone would ever take a shot at you either."

Kim blinked, then frowned.

"Yeah, it was a low blow, Kimmie, and I was sorry I said it the moment it left my mouth. I wish.. I wish I could have told them the truth."

Kim's silence continued, then before Shego could prompt her for a response, Kim surprised her by slipping into her arms and giving her a tight hug.

"It's okay," she said softly. "I understand. And in the circumstances, there's nothing to apologize for, even if.. what you said hurt them.. it's probably for the best."

She shuddered slightly, and Shego wrapped her arms around Kim, returning the hug.

"I wish we could tell them the truth," Kim continued, whispering into her ear, sending a tingle down her spine that she did her best to suppress. "But.. right now, it's just safer if nobody knows that I'm alive, that I'm looking for the people who did this.."

She trailed off, and then pulled back. Shego let her go, and watched on as she sat down heavily again. "It's better neither of them know what I did to rescue Dad."

It was Shego's turn to frown, and she looked at Kim, who was wringing her hands over and over. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Kim kept her gaze on the floor of the jet, and shook her head. "Shego.. I.. when I was stopping those soldiers from… from killing Dad.. I had to... I had to.. I didn't have a choice, I had to.." She trailed off, and a sob escaped her. Shego leaned forward, and gently lifted Kim's face to meet her eyes.

"You had to do what you had to do," she said firmly. "To protect your family, to protect the innocent."

"I killed someone," Kim cried out, the pain in her voice clear as day. "I threw him against a wall and broke his neck, and that was after using someone else as a human shield and getting him shot by his own..." She trailed off again and Shego folded her arms around Kim, pulling her tight into another hug.

"You did what you had to, Kim" she repeated softly. "And I know you wish you didn't have to, and that, more than anything else, is what makes you different. That desire to do everything to avoid killing, that makes you amazing."

She squeezed gently. "I know it won't help right now, but you have to believe me when I tell you that it isn't your fault, and you aren't a bad person for having done it."

"How can you say that?" Kim asked vehemently. "I killed someone!"

"How many police officers have had to take a life to protect the innocent? How many of them are bad people?" Shego asked softly, unknowingly echoing the words of Kim's therapist. "Sure, there are some bad ones out there, ones who don't follow the rules, but we give police weapons and training to take that lethal step because society knows that sometimes it's required, because sometimes it's the only option to save lives."

With a start, Shego realized she was rehashing an old conversation that she herself had had with her older brothers years ago, before she left Team Go.

"But I'm.. better.. I should be better.."

It really was like a repeat of that same argument. _Oh Kimmie, I know you can do anything, so I have to believe you can accept this_.

"You're entering dangerous territory there," Shego said slowly and carefully. "If you hold yourself to impossible standards - never mind the family motto - you're setting yourself up for failure. When you run into a situation like today where you have no choice and next time you freeze because it's not your dad that's at risk, what happens? What if it was ten million people's lives versus one?"

"You can't just rationalize it in numbers! Lives mean more than that!"

"Yes and no, Princess," Shego said softly, then she squeezed the younger woman again gently. "I'm not really sure this is either the time or the place for this conversation.. and I don't think I'm the best person to be talking to about this, for a number of reasons. Your therapist is a much better option."

"How can I tell her that I..."

"Easily," Shego interrupted. "The same way you told me. Straight out, honest. She'll understand, and I'm pretty sure she'll tell you the same thing I have, and do a better job of it, but you can trust that she'll never tell another soul about it. I made sure that she was trustworthy before I ever recommended her to you."

Kim sighed heavily. "I.. I'll talk to her. When we get a chance."

"Good. And until you do.. don't punish yourself too much, okay?" Shego asked, knowing it was probably too much to hope for. "You aren't infallible, if anything, the last twelve months have definitively proven that, so don't try to be. Keep trying to be the best you can, because 99 times out of 100, that'll be enough."

"And what about that last time?" Kim asked quietly.

"I'll try to be there to make sure you don't fall," Shego promised without hesitating, and Kim's head shot up to make eye contact.

Shego smiled at her, and used one finger to gently wipe away the tears from Kim's cheek. Kim's hand came up to grab at Shego's, and there was a momentary flicker of understanding between the two of them that words would probably never fully explain.

They were linked by more than just their former enmity, or the patient/mentor relationship that had been the focus of the last few months, or even the changes that had suddenly driven them into admitting a closer friendship than either had ever anticipated.

The knowledge that Shego understood this part of her gave Kim a lifeline to hold onto, reassured her that she would find a way to be okay, sometime.

The moment of intimacy was interrupted by a groan from the soldier lying on the floor near them as he came around, opening his eyes groggily. Shego gave the trooper a look, then frowned again. She leaned in closer to him, and then blinked in surprise. "Hey, I know this guy."

"You do?"

"Yeah, I've seen him before, I'd swear, I just can't remember where.. wait, yes I can. On Senior Island. He was a Hench, a few months back before I started looking for you. I remember seeing him a couple of times."

"Why would a Hench be part of a secret military group like Cerberus?" Kim asked, confused. "Has Jack really infiltrated everywhere?"

Shego scowled as something occurred to her. "What if it's the other way round?" she asked.

"You mean someone infiltrated HenchCo and planted this guy?"

Shego nodded. "It would be a hell of a way to keep an eye on the Supervillain community."

Kim nodded in agreement. "I wonder if Jack knows?" she asked.

"I doubt it. Jack doesn't take betrayal very well, people who turn on HenchCo tend to have very short lives after doing so."

Kim looked the soldier over. "Well.. maybe we should go have a little talk with Jack?" she suggested.

Shego nodded, then tapped the man's forehead with her plasma activated just enough to knock him out again, this time for at least a few hours.

"Good plan, Princess. I'll go turn us around. You strap our friend here down."

 **KP KP KP**

* * *

 **A/N:** So there you have it. Big changes in this chapter, life defining changes, potentially. KP has to find a way to come to terms with having had no other option but to take a life, and the fallout for that will continue to have impacts down the track.. but there's also a couple of other bits and pieces coming together here..

I'll do my best to have the next chapter up in about a week. Reminder: reviews are always appreciated, I like to know that you're reading and enjoying!


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note** : You guys... this chapter... this freaking chapter... this chapter has kicked my ass. I must have done something horrible to it in a past life or something, I don't know, but this chapter has just _sucked_. It flat out did not want to let itself be finished, and what's worse is, it refused to let any of my _other_ stuff get written while it was being a jerk, even my silly fun stories like my Kim Possible/XCOM crossover.

Stupid chapter.

Anyway, I've decided that I'm just going to push this out, even though I'm _still_ not really happy with it. I've already spent two weeks trying to make this better, and every time I've made it worse, and if I keep going any longer, I'm probably going to hate it more. So, better to just.. get it out there. I may come back and do some rewriting down the track. I promise to tell you if I do, I want you guys to get the best possible version of this story - even if it takes a while. My thanks to everyone who has stuck with this during the dry spell... I'm hoping to have another chapter ready to go soon.

As always, thanks to those who have read and left a review, or added me to their favorites/alerts, I appreciate it, as always.

 **Standard Disclaimer:** The various characters from the Kim Possible series are all owned by Disney. All registered trade names property of their respective owners. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

* * *

 **Kim Possible: Shadow Plays**

 **Chapter Eleven** :

 **KP KP KP**

Forty minutes after leaving Middleton, the jet banked hard without warning, rocking the sole conscious passenger inside around. From the rear came a wordless yelp of complaint, which was followed by footsteps.

"Change of plans, Princess," Shego cut her off as Kim charged into the cockpit a few seconds later. She dropped herself into the copilot's seat and strapped herself in while giving Shego a curious look.

"What's going on?" she asked, as Shego banked the jet hard again and then punched the throttles forward to their stops and kicked in the afterburner, sending the jet racing through the late afternoon sky.

"I just got a message from Bonnie," she replied. "There's trouble on Isla Senior."

"Bonnie called you?" Kim asked, confused.

"Not exactly… when I was last there, before the Washington raid, I talked to Bonnie, or rather, Bonnie talked to me and I listened, mostly. I don't know exactly what she suspected - about us, about everything that's been going on - but she wanted to know if she could ask for my help, in an emergency."

"And you agreed?" Kim asked, slightly incredulously.

Shego shrugged. "Yeah, I did. Hey, I know you have some issues with her, but I kinda like her. Besides, more importantly, _Senior_ likes her, so agreeing to help was the smart call. Staying in their good books is a no-brainer, Princess, especially given the help they've offered so far. I did tell her that any rescue would cost her though."

 _'Some issues' might be the understatement of the year,_ Kim thought. She was trying to keep her personal feelings about Bonnie Rockwaller - or Senor Senior Sr for that matter, no matter how much he'd helped Shego out - from getting in the way. She was also doing her best to not get upset at Shego for agreeing to help her high school nemesis. "So if it wasn't a direct message, how did she get in touch?"

"I told her if there was an emergency to leave a message on your site with her name and the word 'green' in it somewhere and I'd see it."

Shego hit a button on her side of the cockpit and one of the multi-function screens in front of Kim changed to a browser that was open to the Comments page of her site. In between all the condolences and other messages about her death that she assumed Wade was monitoring and filtering, she spotted a message from _Bonnie R_ : 'Kimberly was one of my best friends, and I hope that wherever she is the grass is _green_ er and she's happy.'

"Well she's clearly in desperate trouble," Kim deadpanned. "There's no way she'd have _ever_ called me a friend otherwise."

Shego grinned at her. "That's what I figured, and why I turned us around as soon as I saw it… which unfortunately was about ten hours after she left it."

Kim looked at the time stamp, noting that Shego was actually off by an hour or two, given the timezone they were in right now. "We're going, right?" she asked, and received a nod in reply. "Okay, what's our flight time to the island?"

Shego looked down at her displays and then did a bit of quick calculation in her head as Kim waited.

"Well, I've got good news and bad news. The bad news is we don't have the fuel for a full afterburner run all the way across the Atlantic, which would get us there in about four hours flat. We also can't quite ration our fuel to get all the way there, either… so we need to stop for refueling somewhere safe - which means not the US right now. The _good_ news is that we've got enough range to land at a somewhat shady place I know in Portugal - I'll just have to ration our fuel to make it that far.. so it's going to take us at least eight hours to get to the Island, and that's a best case estimate that assumes we don't have any troubles with refueling..." She trailed off and made a mental note to increase her reserve margin, just in case Carlos was still unhappy with her, and they needed to go as far as Morocco or Tunisia.

Kim did a quick bit of mental arithmetic. If Bonnie had left the message twelve hours ago, and it would take them at least eight to get there, then if something had happened, they might be twenty hours too late to save her.

She forced that ugly thought away and focused on the likelihood that anyone who would dare assault Senior's island would be after more than just dead Seniors. Money, or information, she guessed. She looked over at Shego and wondered if she was thinking the same thoughts. Could this be someone backtracking the break in at FBI Headquarters? Had they kicked a hornet's nest and gotten someone else - not exactly innocent, but still not guilty in this case - stung?

Kim pondered the Bonnie she knew in high school, and if she'd really changed that much since then. Her first gut instinct was no, Bonnie would never change, but she knew that was the voice of jealousy and resentment speaking, and she did her best to ignore it. How many people would ever have guessed at the changes she herself had gone through in the past year? It was entirely possible… no pun intended… that Bonnie had changed.

Kim just couldn't figure what might cause such a change.

Half an hour later, her ruminations on her school nemesis had gotten her no closer to an answer. She blinked in surprise as she saw they were about to cross over Florida from the Gulf of Mexico. At that same moment, Shego looked over at Kim and their eyes locked for a moment.

A shiver of sorts went through Kim as she took in the look that was a combination of understanding, guilt, sadness - and pity, an emotion she'd _never_ expected to see on the ex-villain's face. She tried to squash the rising guilt that threatened to overwhelm her again, dashing the treacherous tears that formed in the corner of her eyes with the back of her hand.

"While we're both here, did you want some more time in command of a _real_ fast mover?" Shego asked suddenly, a strange note in her voice.

"Huh?"

"Well, you clearly know how to fly, I assume from learning on GJ jets? Or was it even earlier than that?"

Kim simply nodded in reply. Her first flying lesson had been long before she GJ had revealed themselves to her, but the organisation had given her the opportunity to learn to fly larger jets, including VTOLs similar to Shego's, during one of her internships at the agency in the summer holidays.

"Well, you did an okay job moving it at the Space Center, but there's a few bits and bobs in my baby that are a little bit… unique," Shego said. "It might have started off _functionally_ similar to a GJ model - since I stole the plans at one point and had one built for myself as payment - but over the years I've had her upgraded here and there."

"I didn't know you were a mechanic."

Shego snorted at that. "Who do you think kept Drakken's hovercraft in the air? It sure as hell wasn't Boy Blue. Do you really think I'd trust my life to his maintenance efforts, knowing what tends to happen to every other complex machine he puts his tiny little hands on?"

Kim couldn't help but smile. She suddenly realized what Shego was trying to do - distract her from the events in Middleton - and she did her best to let go and go along with it. "Excellent point, though he's had one or two successes," she added, thinking of the Bebes.

"Exceptions that prove the rule, Princess, trust me. So yeah, I know enough about my baby to do maintenance and general repair, but I actually used someone else we both know to do the major redesign when I upgraded the engines and the airframe for hypersonic flight, because it was a _serious_ job."

Kim blinked as she caught the intonation on the second last word. "Oh god. You didn't. Not _him_.."

Shego snorted again. "Yes, yes I did, I let Cousin Ed upgrade her, and before you ask, yes, I triple-checked _everything_ he did to make sure it was actually useful and not… well… Ed-like."

"I can't believe.."

"Hey, you of all people should know that he's actually pretty good with technology, once you get him focused on practicalities. You just gotta tell him that interior decoration will absolutely _not_ be something he gets a say in. Ed hadn't worked anything this fast since the Kepler, so he was keen. Besides, it was easier than I thought - I just had to stroke his ego by suggesting that GJ had made something so good it couldn't be improved upon."

Kim couldn't help but letting out a little giggle at the mental image of the aneurysm that probably would have given Ed. She had another when she remembered the outfit he'd tried to force Shego into when he'd stolen the Kepler.

"What can I say?" Shego said, misunderstanding the cause of the second giggle, and pretending to buff her nails on her jumpsuit. "I told you I'm evil. It's just a very specific type of evil - conning poor innocent mad mechanics out of their time and effort. Anyway, she has a few other unique features that I've added in over the years, including the cloak, and I figured now's as good at time as any to show them to you, since it seems like you're going to be up here more than I originally thought you would."

Shego didn't come right out and say it, but she knew Kim needed the distraction that learning to fly the jet was giving her. The first twenty minutes after leaving Middleton had been heart wrenching, as she had chosen to give Kim space - as much space as was practical on a jet this size - but she had naturally heard the crying from the cockpit, and it had been like a knife slowly working its way into her stomach and twisting with each choking sob.

Thankfully the distraction appeared to work as they flew on across the Atlantic, with both of them having the chance to take brief naps to refresh while the other piloted. After an incident free - for the most part, Carlos wasn't exactly thrilled to see Shego again but that was his problem - refueling in Portugal, they were back in the air heading for Isla Senior and the unknown.

As they lifted off, the Kimmunicator let off a muted buzz and Kim raised her wrist and tapped a button. "Go Wade," she said.

"Got some news for you both," he replied, the volume of the speaker loud enough that Shego didn't have to strain to hear it. "First - I just got a hit on your site that's routed from Senior island - another single line message on your site."

"Another one? What did it say?" Kim asked curiously.

"Bonnie and three friends are currently stuck on an island getaway gone bad. Hoping to see the Green Cavalry ride ASAP," he told them, and Shego winced.

"Bonnie definitely sent that, and she's in big trouble. She would only refer to me as 'the Cavalry' if she was in dire need of rescue."

"You told her you'd help?" Wade asked.

"I did… I told her that if I could, I would help, but she'd have to make it worth my while."

Kim raised an eyebrow. "And how did she take that?"

"She promised me all the embarrassing stories about you that I could handle."

Kim's mouth dropped open, and Wade laughed from her wrist.

"She _what_?" Kim demanded in a low, angry tone.

"I'm pretty sure she knows you're alive - at the very least, she's made an educated guess - and since she made it, she correctly assumed that I was looking after you, _and_ she was smart enough to offer me a reward better than any amount of money she had access to."

"That… _bitch!_ " Kim swore furiously, garnering yet more laughter from Wade and a trademark smirk from Shego. "I can't believe that _you_ and _her_ would.. aaargh!" She trailed off into incoherent sounds.

Shego's grin only deepened. "Look on the bright side, Princess," she told her. "When Bonnie's kid is growing up, you can tell her horror stories about her mom."

Kim's wordless ranting stopped dead. "Wait, what?"

"Oh, yeah, did I forget to mention that? Bonnie's pregnant, a little Senior is on the way."

Kim's eyes nearly bugged out of her head, and Shego laughed again. "I thought that might surprise you."

"As interesting as this all is," Wade commented sadly. "I have another bit of news for you, probably not quite as happy as the one you just got."

"I'm not sure I can take any more shocks," Kim told him, slowly shaking her head.

"Well, I'd love to give happy news but I'm afraid that I'm fresh out," Wade said. "While you guys were in Middleton, I was also working with Doctor Director, helping her out of a bind."

"So she's not on the island," Shego said. "Lucky her."

"Well… maybe not. She took your minijet to Ohio, to visit Senator Willard, I assume to have a chat about his role in the Fake Kim plot."

Kim felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. "Please don't tell me…"

"Sorry Kim. Someone shot him while she was in his office - shot him from long range, with a sniper rifle. Betty didn't say it, but I think she suspects that the shooter might be the same as the one who shot Camille. They were waiting for her at the Senator's holiday house, which implies they guessed Betty or Shego might make a play for him sooner or later."

"Damn," Shego swore. "He was on my list, I should have thought of visiting him earlier."

"Well, if you had, they might have shot you first," Wade said. "Instead, it looks like they tried to frame Dr Director for his murder - they might have done it too, except she took out the investigating security guards and made a break for it. She asked me to erase any security footage of her being there."

Kim nodded slowly. "Where is she now?"

"Last I heard from her, she was on her way to Chicago to try and stop any attack on Senator Roberts - and I've sent an anonymous warning to Senator McCallum's security detail," Wade told her. "She thought, and I agreed, that someone is going after the senators to further discredit her and Global Justice, probably with the aim of getting the entire US Intelligence apparatus chasing her."

"That's a sucker bet," Shego growled. "I'm really starting to hate playing catch-up to these bastards. It's time to stop playing defense and go on the offence."

"First things first. Senior and the others are in trouble, so we have to rescue them -" Kim broke off and a rueful grin appeared on her face. "Is that as weird to hear as it is to say?"

Wade nodded and Shego laughed.

"Anyway, while we're there, we have an opportunity to, as you so eloquently put it, go on offence," she said, looking at Shego. "If we can find out who took the island, we can grill them to find out who's giving their orders, and then that's where we look next."

"I like it," Shego said, with a grin. "Wade, can you get into the Senior's security systems?"

"Afraid not," he said. "Looks like whoever is in charge there has brought down all their systems entirely - like they switched everything off at the wall."

Shego frowned as that information sank in. "They only reason they'd turn off the internal sensors is if they didn't want anyone recording what they're doing inside. That spells real trouble - for everyone. Let's get there fast."

She suited action to words, kicking the jet into afterburner and sending them streaking across the sky towards Isla Senior.

As they approached their destination and were decelerating over the Eastern Mediterranean an hour later, the two of them were operating in such a natural sync that Shego could have believed that they'd been flying together for years - and a sudden flash of insight told her it made a weird kind of sense. The two of them _had_ been reading each other and instinctively reacting to the other for several years - just in a _slightly_ different context. Of course they'd fall into a natural rhythm with other cooperative endeavors. They already _had_ with Kim's physical rehab, was it any real surprise that this was the same?

For a brief wild second, some part of her wondered how well they would dance together.

The shiver of anticipation that ran through her at the unbidden mental image was ruthlessly suppressed before it could go any further, and she took a few seconds to compose herself before she dared look back at the young woman in the copilot's seat beside her, who was flying on as if nothing had happened.

Well, for her nothing had, Shego admitted ruefully. But she couldn't help feel like another slight shift had happened, at least in her mind, in the relationship between the two of them.

As she watched Kim easily handling the jet, she was tempted to leave everything to her and relax until their landing on the island - which was in sight and only a few minutes away - but that plan evaporated the second alarms started blaring in the cockpit. Kim glanced down and cringed when she saw which panel had suddenly lit up with angry red blinking warnings.

"Uhoh," she muttered, then flicked one of the multifunction displays to the electronic warfare systems. "Shego, an anti-air radar just lit us up."

"I see it," Shego replied grimly. "It doesn't have the same signature as Senior's usual radar. I'm taking control." Kim lifted her hand off the co-pilot's stick and acknowledged.

"You have control. Engaging the ECM systems," she told Shego, who nodded, then swore as another set of alarms went off.

"Crap, that's a missile launch!"

Kim's voice betrayed only a hint of panic as she tapped at the controls, and not for the first time, Shego marveled at her calmness in the face of danger. "Engaging automatic defenses... two inbound missiles... firing chaff and flares now."

"I see them… brace yourself!" Shego warned, then rolled the jet 90 degrees and pulled the stick to her belly, screaming into a turn away from the island as the chaff canisters dispensed clouds of radar reflective material to disrupt the radar guidance systems and the flares ignited in the sky to distract any infrared homing systems on the missiles.

Kim grunted as the G-force of the violent turn squeezed her into her seat, but she was still able to concentrate on the warning systems. As an explosion roared behind them, she reported. "One missile detonated in the chaff, the other is still tracking us!"

Shego threw the jet into an increasingly wild series of disorienting evasive actions, as the automated defenses fired even more countermeasures until finally a bone-rattling explosion shook the jet as the missile triggered its warhead amongst the last of the chaff clouds, close enough for the high pitched pings of shrapnel hitting the aft section of the aircraft to reverberate through the entirety of the aircraft and the controls in Shego's hands to suddenly feel less responsive.

"Shit that was _close_!" Shego swore, and then swore again as a new set of alarms indicated another missile launch. "Fucking hell! Hold on, Princess, I'm going to do something stupid!"

Before Kim could make any smart comments, she continued their spiraling descent towards the ocean, tightening the spin as they lost height, and for a brief moment Kim wondered if she'd actually lost control of the jet, until at the very last second she pulled out and they leveled off barely twenty meters above the ocean, the g-force of the maneuver pressing them both deep into their seats and an enormous rooster tail of spray flying out behind them, until Shego slowed and turned the jet back towards the island.

"Switching to VTOL turbines and engaging the cloaking systems like I should have done in the first place," Shego reported, sounding annoyed at herself. "Anything else on the threat board?"

"Nope," Kim replied. "If I had to guess, we were below their acquisition height when we went dark."

"That was the plan - sort of," Shego said, rubbing one hand over her face and finding it damp from sweat. "Kind of impromptu but screw it, it worked. What the _hell_ is going on down there? Those missiles.." She looked back down at the screens in front of her and tapped a few commands. "They weren't the Patriots that Senior, uh, 'acquired' for his island defense network."

"Well, we know that it's not Senior in control down there," Kim replied softly. "Whoever has the island must have brought them from outside to prevent anyone else getting close."

"Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense." Shego said, as she brought the jet down onto the most remote corner of the island possible, the wheels sinking into the sand slightly as the turbines kicked up a spray of sand and water around them until she cut all power.

She stretched out her back for a brief second as they climbed out from their seats and grabbed their gear from the rear of the jet, and after Shego took the time to make sure their captive was secured and still knocked out, they changed into their outfits. As Kim rolled her arms and shoulders around and balled her hands into fists a few times, Shego gave her a knowing look.

"Ready to go have a little look?"

"Do you even have to ask? If they're in trouble, we're helping them."

"Yeah, I knew you were going to say that. But this time, Princess, at least try to stay near me. I don't want you running off and doing something crazy - again." Shego hadn't meant to make Kim think back to Middleton, and was grateful when Kim nodded.

"I understand."

"Good. Let's roll," Shego said, and set off up the beach into the trees that covered the island and surrounded the Senior's complex.

 **KP KP KP**

Kim kept up with her surprisingly easily, despite the fast pace that Shego set, and the fierce determination in Kim's eyes whenever she looked around gave Shego a weird surge of pride, both in Kim, and also in herself for having gotten the broken shell of a human she'd found just six months ago restored back to this point. She didn't think the young woman was fully healed - that would probably take longer still - but she was suddenly much more like the Kim she'd known for years, and Shego was grateful for it. This Kim, she knew how to handle - mostly.

A few minutes later, as they crawled to the crest of the slight hill in the island that looked down over the airstrip situated adjacent to the Mansion proper, Kim spotted a group of men boarding a large helicopter her memory identified as an Mi-21 Hind. The chopper took off and headed over them, and the pair took cover among the trees to avoid being spotted. As it passed over them, they turned their heads to follow it as it headed out to sea over the camouflaged jet, towards where smoke was rising in the distance - most likely from the remnants of the missiles shot at them.

"Looks like they're headed out looking for the crash site," she observed. "Good thing the stealth camo on the jet wasn't damaged."

"Yeah, that would have complicated things slightly," Shego replied drily. "Did you notice the gear they were carrying?"

Kim nodded. The troops boarding the helicopter had been extremely heavily armed, carrying assault rifles and wearing bulky black body armor, rather than the usual red jumpsuits and SHOC staves that were standard Hench issue.

Shego looked to one end of the runway and spotted a large black hypersonic transport sitting off to one side. A closer examination of the transport revealed that someone had hastily added black paint over the normal location for a HenchCo decal on the jet's vertical stabilizer, and it piqued her interest. _If they're not regular Henches_ , she wondered. _Who the hell are they? That is definitely a HenchCo Hypersonic Transport, so it has to be from Jack, doesn't it?_

Her blood suddenly ran cold.

The transport jet's cavernous belly ramp was wide open, and there were multiple tracks leading away from it in the soft ground off the concrete of the tarmac proper. Her eyes followed one set and… _yeah, that's what I was looking for._

An M113 APC with a quad-tube Rapier Surface-to-Air Missile launcher installed in its rear weapons mount sat on the far side of the transport, in a good over watch position for anyone approaching the island from the air. A look at the other end of the runway let her identify another M113 with the same mount, positioned to cover the island from the other approach, a work crew frantically reloading the four tubes with new missiles.

Shego was starting to feel very nervous. The positioning of the two Rapier SAMs was right out of a very specific playbook, and if she was right in her suspicions, they were going to have to be _very_ careful, because the rumors of the soldiers they appeared to have found were _not_ pleasant.

"They _weren't_ actually Henches, were they?" Kim asked softly, making Shego wonder if Kim had spotted the same thing. A quick glance showed Kim was indeed looking at the two APCs and noting their position.

"If I say 'I have a bad feeling about this', will you hate me?" Shego replied warily.

"I'm gonna take that as a no, and additionally assume you know who they are." Kim turned to stare at her.

Shego nodded slowly. "The Rapier SAM carriers there and there are laid out exactly like an assault and hold deployment, one close in to cover the transport asset, one further out to engage at range. I also just spotted the Radar unit there, on that little rise." Kim was still looking at her, so she continued. "Jack was rumored to be putting together a totally deniable black ops group made up of non-Henches designed to, uh, 'clean up'. At a guess, they're the sort of folks who don't play well with most others, so they could be ex-SAS, ex-SEAL, et cetera, and that's why they're using other people's playbooks."

Shego rose to her feet, Kim rose a second later beside her. "We need to get inside, fast."

Side by side, the two of them sprinted for the main buildings, keeping half an eye on the soldiers rearming the missile launcher. Thankfully none of them were looking towards the mansion as they pounded across the tarmac.

"When we get inside I want you to hang back and not engage anyone if you can avoid it," Shego said as they ran.

"I can handle myself," Kim huffed.

"I know that, but that's not the point - I'm not keen on anyone seeing _you_ , not just yet."

"Oh, Wade showed me how that can be taken care of," Kim replied, and she tapped a button on her Kimmunicator. As Shego glanced over, the suit seemed to flow up from her neck and over her face and head like a black liquid, leaving nothing but the eyes visible.

"Okay, that's actually a neat trick," Shego admitted as they reached the hangar and slipped inside for cover.

"You like? Wade told me the suit could do it while we were in flight - if I'd known earlier I wouldn't have stolen that gorchy balaclava. I'll see if Wade can make you one if you want," Kim said, and Shego laughed.

They reached the inner door that led from the hangar to the Mansion proper.

"It'd be kinda pointless when I'm instantly recognizable when I do this," she said, charging her hands with green plasma and throwing a large ball straight at the door, crashing through the splintered wood a second later with Kim on her heels.

"Time to have some fun!" she said as she barreled into the surprised troops milling around in the main entrance hall like a bowling ball, throwing more plasma as she closed to engage the main group in hand to hand range, before they could bring their guns to bear.

Kim skirted the edge of the melee that formed, smiling to herself as she watched Shego dismantle the group without any difficulty at all. Any of the soldiers that backed off towards her were summarily dispatched, as were those who were flung her way by the whirling green dervish in the middle.

She slipped sideways around the entrance hall towards the doors opposite the main entrance, predicting anyone coming to reinforce the group already here would likely come that way, and just as she reached the doors, they slammed opened, and another group of four soldiers, all with their guns already drawn rushed past her. Two of them aimed their rifles at the melee then hesitated, apparently not willing to shoot at their own companions, but the other two took a few further steps forward, then were suddenly knocked back by a flying body that crashed into them, all three men tumbling unceremoniously the floor.

Kim took advantage of that distraction to step out behind the two with their guns still drawn and aimed at the melee - and Shego.

"You don't really need those, do you?" she asked sweetly as she approached, and their surprise gave Kim all the time she needed to reach forward and grab a gun in each hand, closing her fists tight to activate the extra strength in the battlesuit gloves - more than enough to crush the barrels of the guns with a loud cracking noise. She pulled back hard, wrenching the ruined weapons out of the shocked hands holding them and dispatching them through the door.

"There, that's more like it," she said. Both men scowled at her, and she danced on the balls of her feet and made the universal 'bring it' gesture with her right hand.

The taunt had the intended effect, and both men wound up to punch her. She dropped, tucking her knees to her chest and feeling the air of both punches brush over her head, then launched herself up at the left soldier like a spring released, her gloved fist driving upwards and in into the jaw hard enough to lift the man clean off the floor, the impact snapping his head back sharply. She continued to rise, spinning her body into a savage kick that lashed out at the wrist of the second soldier, who was staring open mouthed at her evasion and counterattack.

The bones in his wrist cracked under the impact, and as he instinctively pulled the hand back to him to cradle it into his chest, she landed and spun again, this time sweeping the legs from under him and continuing the spin to hit him in the face with an ax kick, cracking his nose and spilling more blood, though thankfully knocking him out cold.

She paused and breathed for half a second before looking around her. Bodies lay strewn all over the entrance, including two who'd been thrown halfway through the ruined door. Shego stood in the epicenter of the bodies, like it was the calm eye of a storm, her hands still blazing and her eyes looking left and right for more opponents, until it became obvious that none of the men were getting back up.

She looked over and Kim and then grinned suddenly and savagely. "That was fun!"

Kim shook her head in amusement, then pointed down one of the halls that led off from the main entrance. "You sweep downstairs, I'll go up?"

Shego shook her head. "No way. We don't know how many more troops there are inside, so splitting is a terrible idea. We sweep the bedrooms upstairs together."

She suited action to words, stalking towards the large sweeping staircase that led up to the second level.

Kim watched her go for a moment, the almost predatory stalk mesmerizing her briefly, until she realized with a start that she was _staring_ at _Shego's ass_. She shook her head briefly to clear it.

"This is _so_ not the time," she muttered to herself as she jogged up the stairs after the woman and started searching.

Kim didn't remember the exact layout of Senior's mansion that well, and while Shego had stayed in it for a brief period after her initial pardon, her recollection of the mansion was poor too.

Thankfully, the second floor was mostly guest bedrooms and they only encountered four more soldiers patrolling, all of which were rapidly dispatched by Shego, the rooms nearby were quickly searched.

If the number of Oh Boyz posters was any indication, the one they looked in fifth - having first dispatched the soldier inside who'd remained blissfully unaware of their presence until Shego had tapped on his shoulder thanks to the expensive set of headphones he was wearing - was Junior's room - or at least the room where he was banished to on occasions. From the general state of the room they guessed that Bonnie refused to set foot in it.

Still somewhat horrified by the prospect of Bonnie having a child with _Junior_ of all people, Kim turned a corner and spotted a pair of guards standing at a door, guns held at the ready and heads swiveling, having clearly heard the earlier melee downstairs.

 _They're guarding someone_ , she realized instantly.

She felt Shego bump into her from behind, then lean out around her to get a look, and she tried desperately _not_ to think about the green woman's hands on her shoulders, or the warmth of the body pressing into her own.

 _I said not the time, damnit!_ she told herself again, then the two of them made a quick silent move to a closer doorway and peeked again as one of the black-clad soldiers turned and slammed a fist on the door.

"Shut the hell up in there," he bellowed. "Don't make me come in there - you'll regret it."

Kim scowled and felt the same anger she'd felt at the Space Center surging up inside her. She tried to clamp down on it as much as possible, but when she heard a female voice scream "Fuck you!" it solidified into a hard ball in her stomach, and before Shego could stop her she had launched herself from the doorway, just as the angry guard turned and opened the door.

Kim got halfway down the corridor before the second guard saw her coming from the corner of his eye and started turning towards her, his gun coming into line with her too quickly, when the out of sight guard suddenly loosed an inhuman scream and backed into the corridor.

His partner glanced back at the screaming man for just a split second before remembering the oncoming enemy, but that split second was again all the time Kim needed to reach him, her fist already cocked back and slamming into his solar plexus at full force, doubling him over and causing him to drop the rifle. She finished him with an elbow to the back of the head which drove him face first into the floor, before turning to look at the still screaming guard.

She froze in shock - once her brain managed to process the image of the diamond-encrusted stiletto heel currently sticking out of one of his eyes. There was blood pouring down the man's face through the hands that wavered in confusion and horror, as if deciding whether or not to try and pull the heel out. As a massive wave of nausea hit her, Kim retched and had to retract the hood of the suit rapidly before she vomited against the wall of the corridor.

"Some rescue this is, Shego," came a familiar voice, which cut off suddenly with an exclamation of surprise as Kim doubled over and retched again, a second wave of vomit pouring from her mouth as her stomach ejected every last thing she'd eaten that day. All of a sudden, a gentle hand was on her back and a concerned voice in her ear.

"Hey, whoever you are, are you okay?" Bonnie Senior - nee Rockwaller - asked her.

Kim nodded briefly after taking a second to compose herself, then straightened, spotting Shego slowly approaching from the end of the corridor, shaking her head. Kim noticed a pair of soldiers that hadn't been there before lying on the ground, and assumed that they'd stumbled upon Shego in a few seconds Kim had been busy.

"I knew it, I knew you weren't dead!" Bonnie suddenly exclaimed as Kim slowly turned to face her, then blinked in surprise. "Wow, the Nikita look actually kinda suits you. I'd never pictured you blonde."

Kim, at a loss for words, looked back over at the guard, who'd slumped to the floor, his back against the wall and his hands almost, but not quite, touching the shoe, the heel still grotesquely piercing into his face.

"That's.." she started.

"Payback," Bonnie growled, then stalked back over to the guard, pulled a taser from his hip pocket, and stunned him unconscious. "Probably won't kill him, more's the pity."

"B.. Bonnie." Kim said.

"Kim, right now I am _incredibly_ glad to see you - and believe me, those are words I never thought I would ever say - but you haven't been here for the last two days, okay?" She held up her hand, and Kim felt nausea rise again as she spotted the bloody remnants where it looked like nails had been ripped off several of her fingers. "If you had been, I'm imagining you would probably be even less forgiving. Am I right?"

Kim frowned, then thought back to the cold rage that had settled in her stomach at the thought of her father being in danger, and nodded slowly, feeling slightly guilty still for the bloodlust that seemed to want to overtake her at times.

"I thought so." Bonnie looked up and down the corridor. "Hey Shego. You know, I did specify the Green Cavalry, not the Used-to-be-Red-but-is-now-Blonde version."

"Well, you get what you get, Bonnie," Shego told her. "Just be grateful we're here."

Kim shook her head - it almost felt like she'd never left high school, except she could look down and see just the slightest hint of a bump on Bonnie's flat belly.

"Oh bloody hell, Shego figured it out, didn't she?" Bonnie asked, noticing Kim's glance. She shot a scowl at the green woman. "And she had the bad grace to tell you."

"Well, you promised her embarrassing stories about me, it seems like a fair trade," Kim pointed out, finally finding her voice again.

"Hmmm, that is true," Bonnie allowed.

Shego was the first to turn back to business.

"How did these guys take over?" she asked curiously. "Senior doesn't strike me as the type to just let an invading force land."

Bonnie sighed. "Yes, well… unfortunately Senior is still in his wheelchair after the fall, so he's been, uhh, delegating some day-to-day stuff to Junior."

"Including approving incoming air traffic," Shego guessed.

"Including approving incoming air traffic," Bonnie sighed.

Shego shook her head. "What did he think they were?"

"He told me last week that he'd managed to convince the manager of the Oh Boys to perform an exclusive concert here on the island, and when the transport showed up on radar he assumed it was their airplane and shut down the missile defenses."

She shot a pained look at Kim, who was trying to contain a laugh. Shego didn't bother trying, she just let loose. Once she'd recovered enough, she patted Bonnie on the shoulder in a sarcastic way. "Looks like Senior picked the wrong person to delegate to."

"Well, assuming we all survive this mess, I'm sure he won't make the same mistake again," Bonnie replied, a tone of snark creeping into her voice.

The Kimmunicator buzzed in silent mode, and Kim raised her wrist so all three of them could hear Wade.

"Got some bad news for you," he said grimly. "I've picked up another large Hypersonic transport headed towards Isla Senior. Now that I know what to look for, I can pick up their atmospheric distortion."

"How long do we have?" Shego asked.

"Not long enough," he replied grimly. "Maybe an hour, tops. Can't backtrack them all the way, sorry, satellite coverage isn't good enough for that, so I can't tell you where they come from, but you'll have to hurry if you want to be gone when they arrive. By the way, sorry for not warning you about the Rapier launchers. I didn't see them unload and they've been camouflaged from satellite reconnaissance."

Shego waved away his apology but then realized what the second transport meant. Kim figured it out at the same moment.

"You think they knew we were coming?"

"Us specifically? Hard to say," Shego shrugged. "But given that I've been here a few times now, I'd say they might have guessed I might be on my way back after Middleton. And if someone saw me in Portugal, or if they figured out that Bonnie got a message out…" she trailed off and left the rest unsaid.

Kim nodded. "We can't stay much longer."

"Well, now that we have Bonnie, we just need to grab the Seniors, then we blow this popsicle stand," Shego told her, as the three of them stepped away from the two guards. "Do you know where they are?"

"I think they took Junior to the medical facilities after the last... torture session," Bonnie said. "He didn't look in great shape."

"I know where that is," Shego said confidently. "I'm guessing that Senior won't be there."

"They're keeping him in his.. uh.. _other_ office," Bonnie said. "When they're not torturing Junior in front of him."

Shego's anger was palpable, flowing off her in waves. Bonnie almost took a step back, before realizing it wasn't directed at her.

"They're going to regret that, Bonnie, I promise. Kim, I want you to take her somewhere safe and ride this out. The two I took out got a warning to the helicopter that took off, so there's going to be a heavy squad back here any minute."

"But.."

"No buts, Princess. Safe room, lock down, and wait for my call." Shego gave her a look before stalking off, and Kim gave a moment's consideration to throwing a tantrum despite the audience.

"Looks like someone else has taken over my job of pissing you off," Bonnie commented with a smirk.

"Don't start with me," Kim warned her. "I actually feel _fine_ , and I can handle myself!"

"Sure, completely vanishing for what, a year or so? That _totally_ screams 'perfectly fine and in complete control'," Bonnie said sarcastically, then relented somewhat. "Look, she's just trying to keep you safe."

Kim laughed harshly. "Safe? Someone who looked a lot like me took a sniper's bullet to the forehead, do you really think anywhere is safe for me at the moment?"

Bonnie recoiled slightly at the sudden despair in Kim's voice.

"Okay, so it's a control thing, then," she said, in a far softer voice than Kim ever remembered the brunette using. She reached a hesitant hand out onto Kim's shoulder. "When you're actually doing something, you feel like you can control it."

"You're not my therapist, Bonnie," Kim snarled, and Bonnie smiled.

"Maybe not, but I've been going to one long enough to pick up a few things here and there."

All the anger seemed to flow out of Kim in a rush. "You.. have?"

Bonnie nodded. "C'mon K, you _met_ my family. Was there really any chance I wasn't going to be in therapy the moment I left that toxic environment?"

"I.. I didn't..know."

"No, of course not, because I never let _anyone_ \- except Tara, bless her - get close enough long enough to know. Being stuck on you for a week doesn't count, by the way. Half the things I said and did to you at high school.. same root cause, really."

"I'm sorry," Kim said.

"Not sure why _you're_ the one apologizing to _me_ , it wasn't you making my home life utter hell," Bonnie said with a shrug. "Now… if it _is_ a control thing, then maybe we should do something about it."

Kim blinked. "What did you have in mind?" she asked suspiciously.

"Oh, I happen to know where the security station is, and the override codes that can bring it all online again and turn it against these guys.. and the ones coming back in the helicopter."

Kim nodded. "That actually sounds like a good idea. Lead the way."

Bonnie walked back and picked up one of the assault rifles that lay discarded by the two unconscious troopers slumped near them. "Just in case," she said to Kim's raised eyebrow. She checked the magazine, then flicked the safety, and set off down the hallway.

 **KP KP KP**

* * *

 **A/N:** So there you have it. Am unhappy. Am still hitting the publish new chapter button. Screw it. Next chapter: the thrilling (I hope) conclusion of the rescue on Isla Senior!


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note** : You guys rock, you know that? Thank you to everyone who sent a message or review after the last chapter was published. It's always nice to know that someone out there is reading and enjoying the hard work that goes into this.

As a reward, have another chapter! DUN-DUN-DUUUN. Bet you didn't see that coming! This wraps up the Senior Island rescue, and plants some biiiig seeds for the next phase of the story, as well as forcing some unpleasant conversations on our main characters. Tying this all together was hard, but I'm actually relatively happy with how this ended up. I hope you are too. Ironically, it also ended up being the longest chapter so far, whoooops.

As always, thanks to those who have read and left a review, or added me to their favorites/alerts, I appreciate it, as always.

 **Standard Disclaimer:** The various characters from the Kim Possible series are all owned by Disney. All registered trade names property of their respective owners. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

* * *

 **Kim Possible: Shadow Plays**

 **Chapter Twelve** :

 **KP KP KP**

Shego stalked through the corridors of Senior's mansion with her hands ablaze and a furious glare on her face that dared anyone to get in her way.

The number of idiots ignoring the warning increased the closer she got to the medical wing of Senior's mansion, which told her that she was heading in the right direction. Dealing with them was taking time, though, time they didn't have, and her frustration was growing by the minute. As it grew, so did the damage done to the troops standing in her way - and the collateral damage to the surrounding sections of the mansion increased in sympathy.

Men were thrown halfway through walls or into the roof hard enough to bring sections of it down, blasts of plasma were tossed that destroyed doors and blew out windows - and the bursts of semi-automatic weapon fire that Shego didn't incinerate with the plasma left pockmarked holes across the walls.

She reacted instantly when the low _thwwiiip_ of a grenade launcher firing came from the far end of a corridor she had just turned into, throwing up a large plasma wave in front of her that destroyed the explosive projectile before it could detonate and scratch her with it's shrapnel. She broke into a sprint, hurling balls of plasma ahead of her as she raced forward toward the small squad of soldiers that had fired upon her, forcing them back around the corner.

She slid around the end of the corridor with both hands fully lit, and tossed a pair of concussive bursts into the middle of the men - one of whom was bringing a bloody _rocket launcher_ in line with her! The blast scattered them, and the idiot with the launcher pulled the trigger reflexively, sending the rocket straight through the roof before it detonated on the floor above them with an enormous deafening roar.

Shego was seriously starting to reconsider her previous assessment of the soldiers she was facing. No highly trained soldier would have ever contemplated firing that _indoors_ even in the most desperate of situations!

"IDIOTS!" she screamed at them, as she walked among the shaken soldiers, systematically knocking each of them out. "So much for your elite bloody troops, Jack!"

She looked up at the hole and the damage visible through it and shook her head. Senior Sr was going to be shelling out a lot of money on reconstruction work when he was rescued - assuming that the mansion was still standing when she was finished.

When she finally reached the small but advanced infirmary, only a single guard stood outside the door, which kind of suggested the condition Junior was going to be in wasn't going to be good. Even so, the guard he had his weapon out, but unluckily for him, he was carefully checking the far end of the corridor.

She stalked towards him, a furious scowl on her face.

"Hey there," she growled, before slamming her fist at full strength into the guard's jaw as he turned towards her, knocking him out instantly and sending him and his rifle clattering to the floor. No plasma needed.

She stepped over his prone form and into the infirmary proper, where she paused to take in the sight of Senor Senior Junior curled on his side in one of the beds. He didn't look good, even from a brief glance. His large form was tucked almost in a fetal position, and he was shivering despite the warm temperature in the room.

Shego felt her rage slowly supplanted by a feeling of pity - and fear, for reasons that she couldn't quite explain.

"Junior?" she asked hesitantly. "Junior, are you awake? Can you move?"

"Who is it?" His voice was cracked and hoarse, like he had a cold.

"It's Shego," she said. "I got a call for help from Bonnie, she said you guys were being held hostage.. and that they were.."

"Have you found her? Or my father?" he asked, rolling over and sitting up - and Shego suddenly realized his voice wasn't hoarse from a cold.. it was from screaming his throat raw.

Shego stared in complete shock at the damage that had been done to his once handsome, aristocratic face. Massive bruises had formed around his eyes, his nose, and across his cheekbones. Deliberate cuts had been made in ugly, uneven rows down his cheeks, his nostrils had been clearly cut open, and it looked like a part of his left ear was missing. His hands were as bad - several fingers had dirty red bandages on their tips, others were obviously broken and sloppily splinted.

"My god," she whispered. "What did they do to you, Junior?"

"They wanted to know…" he started, then stopped, and shuddered deeply. "They wanted to know what Father knew about the assassination of Kim Possible."

"But.. that doesn't make any sense, he wasn't involved. At all."

"I know that, and they must have known that.. and yet, they kept asking their strange questions. 'Where is Kim Possible?'.. 'Who else knows she is alive?'.. they kept hitting me, and when that did not work they started cutting me, and I screamed and screamed and screamed, and Father.. Father kept telling them he knew nothing…" Junior trailed off, and a broken look came over his face. "Why did they keep asking those questions, Shego?"

Feeling slightly panicked, Shego did the only thing that made sense to her and lied. "I don't know why, Junior."

Thankfully, he seemed to accept the lie without question, then his expression cleared slightly and he frowned. "Shego.. have you found Bonnie?"

"Yeah, K..uhhnnn.. an associate of mine has her safe, and she's taking Bonnie to a secure room in the mansion."

"You are not with the blue man any more?" Junior asked.

"Ahhhh, no. He's not around much these days. Busy guy, lots of busy work to do. My new partner is.. uh.. Phoenix." Shego hated how lame that name sounded the moment she said it, but again, Junior thankfully seemed to accept it without question.

"And now you will rescue my father, yes?" he asked, looking directly in her eyes for the first time.

"Yes, Junior, I will. Will you stay here until I come back?"

Junior looked down at his hands, and the trembling eased slightly, a commanding tone of voice coming back to him momentarily, like a glimpse of the old vain Junior she'd known. "Yes. Return to me when you have rescued my father and then take me to Bonnie."

Shego didn't like the look in his eyes one little bit, but she didn't have much of a choice - she needed to get to Senior Sr before the last soldiers still conscious did anything drastic, so she left the younger Senior in the infirmary and headed down the corridor that took her to the library. Once she reached it, this time without encountering any opposition, she opened the door hidden behind a bookshelf by pulling the appropriate book - always the classics with Senior - and she stepped into an elevator, hitting the button for the lower level, grateful that Senior had shown her how to open the door.

A few people knew about the second secret 'lair' beneath the mansion, and Shego was one. She had been a guest on the island a few times in the months after her turnaround from world's most wanted to free and clear, before leaving to begin her search for Kim, and the old man had shown her his setup out of a sense of professional pride - the enjoyment of having someone touring who would appreciate it properly might have also had something to do with it, she guessed.

Or maybe it was just the pleasure of her company.

Having been in more lairs than most people, Shego figured she was fairly well placed to comment on both aesthetics and functionality, and when she had first seen it, she had to admit that it had everything that Drakken had ever built, stolen - or on those extremely rare times he had the funds, actually paid for - beaten all ends up. Mind you, Drakken was notoriously cheap all times, whereas Senior was happy to pay top dollar for quality work, so maybe it wasn't _that_ surprising.

Now, though, as the elevator doors slid open and she stepped out into the master control room, she looked up at where the main view screen was mounted and saw nothing but black.

None of the control panels were active, there were no henches manning them.

The room contained nothing but a threatening feeling looming in the darkness.

She walked forward cautiously, every one of her senses on high alert and ready for any possibility.

"Hello, Shego," a low male voice eventually said as she reached the center of the room, and she lit her hands instinctively, turning in a full circle to try and locate the sound of the voice, but finding nobody in the room with her.

"Oh, don't be daft, I'm not that stupid to actually be in the room. I know what you're capable of, and I have no intention of personally dealing with you. No, my employers and I had a sneaking suspicion that Ms Rockwaller got a message out, and we had guessed that it might be you who came, so I thought we could take out two birds with one stone, so to speak."

Shego growled as the implications of part of his statement became clear in her mind. _He said_ employers _. If Jack isn't his only master, has someone got their fingers into HenchCo like we feared?_

"Unfortunately, your jet managed to evade the missiles.. but I always have a few backup plans.. you won't be able to evade this."

The doors slammed shut behind her and a series of bottles placed around the room started hissing, venting a grey mist as into the air. More curious than afraid, Shego threw an experimental plasma blast at one of them, and was highly amused when the detonation was a sparkling blue color that sparkled briefly with green flecks.

"Well then, looks like somebody didn't do _all_ of their homework," Shego said with glee, and fired off another ball at the next one - this time, a trail of blazing blue fire following her green plasma ball as it traveled through the gas clouds. She snapped more off, destroying all the canisters, then as the last of the gas started to swirl around her legs, she lit her glow to the highest she could maintain comfortably, and a blue firestorm formed all around her. A few seconds later, she cut her powers, and then took a deep breath in through her nose. "Ahh, I love the smell of ozone in the morning."

There was a growl of anger through the hidden speakers.

"You bitch... you might have beaten the gas, but I've got more than enough men to throw at you until my reinfor… what the hell do you mean the island's air defense network is up again?"

Shego snorted. _Of course she couldn't follow orders and stay somewhere safe._ She had no doubts that last little tidbit was Kim throwing a wrench in the invaders plans, probably with Bonnie's help. She quickly had other things on her mind though, in the form of a whole room full of soldiers, that came flooding into the room from the various doorways, all armed for bear and generally looking pissed.

Unfortunately for them, Shego was _more_ pissed, and she tore into them like a wild animal, sending men flying with plasma bursts, felling them with vicious kicks to knees and groins, knocking them out with punches to jaws and temples, and using their unconscious bodies as battering rams to take down more. As the numbers thinned, the soldiers fought more and more viciously, knifes and batons and tasers and even sidearms all aiming for her but never hitting as she danced around every attack and counterattacked with devastating results.

Several had stayed clear of the melee and were aiming their weapons at her as the last of the troops near her went down. A barrage of bullets melted in the plasma wall she hastily threw up, scorching the last few conscious soldiers in her vicinity and sending them scrambling away to put themselves out. As they began to reload their rifles, she tossed more concussive plasma blasts at them, launching them into the air, only for walls or consoles to rudely interrupt their sudden flight.

Less than five minutes after the had started to rush into the room, they were done. Shego stood alone, unchallenged, supreme in the middle of a pile of shifting, groaning - or in most cases, still and quiet - bodies.

"C'mon, I've barely even worked up a sweat!" she complained, as the last two soldiers dropped their weapons and held their hands up in surrender. She almost laughed at the comical whimper the two let out simultaneously as she raised one of her hands, then she smashed both of them into unconsciousness with a single punch.

"Very well, Shego," the voice said from the walls around her, and this time the nameless man had regained his smug superiority. "I suppose you can have this one, but since we have what we need, we'll leave you to it.. good luck with Senior, I do hope you're ready to carry him... I suspect we'll meet again, very soon, and when we do... I'm going to make you pay for this."

A squeal of static signified the disconnection of the speakers.

"I hope we do meet," Shego growled. "But it won't go the way you think." She extinguished the glowing plasma and stalked into the detention cell area.

She was headed for the control panel for the cells to look for Senior, when she was surprised by the sight of two regular Henches, still in their customary red uniforms but with the hoods pulled back, lying uneasily on the metal cots in the first cell.

One of them looked up warily at her footsteps, and blinked in surprise when he recognized her.

"Shego?! Hey, Sam, look! It's Shego!"

"What? Here?"

Shego blinked in disbelief as she too recognized the two Henches - from stints they'd spent with Drakken years ago. "Hey… it's Ralph, right?"

The large man nodded keenly, a weary smile on his face. "Hate to ask it, but can you get us out of here? We're the last Henches that were on the Island, and we were supposed to ship out yesterday after Senior cancelled his contract, but these new assholes showed up before we could leave…" he trailed off and scowled. "I'm pretty sure they consider us expendable, cause we ain't been fed since we were shoved in here."

Shego nodded, looked around for the security panel beside the cell, and found an override to unlock it. "Got it. How many more of you are there?"

The larger black man - Sam, she remembered - shook his head sadly. "Was ten of us.. Pretty sure there's only five or six now. I heard at least one person here get shot yesterday for complaining about the treatment, and it wasn't Senior."

Shego's rage came roaring back. Henches were supposed to be protected species.. you kill Henches outside of actual operational activities and the thousand howling dogs that Jack Hench kept as a Legal Department would come down on you like a ton of bricks. There was a reason that Henching was actually generally considered safe - as long as you avoided meeting Kim Possible.

"Those fuckers," she growled. As the two Henches nodded in agreement, she pulled the door open and they stumbled out into the corridor. "Hey guys, do you know where they were keeping Senior?"

"In the maximum security cell down the corridor, on your right," Sam answered. "Careful, I heard one of them mention that there's a series of trip plates around it that'll vent a poison gas into the cell if you trip it."

"Thanks for the heads up," she said. "You should get your friends moving. I've got a transport here, and as soon as I secure Senior Sr, I'm getting us out of here… you should be on it. At the very least, I highly recommend getting off the island, because I suspect you might have just been made unemployed, and there's a second transport full of these guys coming."

The two Henches shrugged. "Probably for the best. There's something weird going on at HenchCo," Sam said.

Ralph nodded in agreement. "This sounds like as good a time as ever to get out. I've henched for ten years, that seems like enough. Best times were always working for you and the Doc. You were always good to us, even if the Doc was a bit.. forgetful.. when it came to things like supplies."

Shego shrugged. "Always forgot the little details - that's why he always failed."

The hench grinned. "That and a certain cheerleader. Real shame what happened to her. I kinda liked her, even if I was always sore for weeks after she visited." Shego pulled open another cell for them, and they found several unconscious Henches. Ralph bent down and pulled one of the unconscious men up with ease, throwing him over a shoulder in a fireman's carry as Sam moved to get the other.

"Me too," Shego muttered, loud enough for the two henchman to overhear and shoot her knowing grins that she pointedly ignored. She pulled the last few doors of the detention wing open, finding several dead Henches, and one more live one in a cell, rocking back and forth in a near catatonic state next to the body of another dead Hench. The two mobile Henches slowly coaxed him to his feet and steered him back down towards the main control room, shooting a sad glance back at the body.

Shego knew what they were thinking - Henches might not be military, but they had a dislike of leaving their own behind every bit as strong as any soldier.

"We'll see you soon, Shego. Hey, it's good to know _you're_ still alive, at least."

"Yeah... get going, and be _careful_ ," she replied. "I'll be back with Senior as soon as I can get him out."

She found the cell easily enough, then after ten minutes worth of careful electrical work with her gloves and the tools she kept in the leg pouch of catsuit, Shego had disabled the trip plates around the cell. She pulled open the door carefully to find Senor Senior Sr inside lying gingerly on a metal bench, somehow even frailer looking than last time she'd seen him. He gaped at her for a second before recovering admirably as he pulled himself upright.

"Shego, my dear, this is _most_ unexpected.. But it is most gratifying to see you again. How on earth did you know to come?"

"Your daughter in law gave us the heads up that something screwy was going on here," Shego said by way of explanation, as she stepped into the cell and severed the chains holding him with a careful application of her power. "Her message is how I knew something was up. We found her first, and that's how I knew you were being held down here."

"And my son? My Junior? Have you found him?"

Shego nodded slowly and crouched down in front of the elderly man. "Yeah, I found him but... he was in a real bad way. I left him in the infirmary to come and get you. Not sure it was the best idea, he didn't look so.. stable."

Triple S shuddered, his head falling and his eyes burning holes into the concrete floor. "Oh Junior.. I am so sorry." He looked up as tears spilled from his eyes. "I could not betray you, Shego, not even to save him. I could not betray Miss Possible either."

Shego felt her poker face pushed to it's absolute limit, before Senior gave a low, unhappy chuckle.

"You hid her well, but Elizabeth and I, we figured it out - eventually."

"And you still didn't say anything? _Why_? You could have saved Junior.." Shego couldn't hide her disbelief.

"No! I would have saved nobody by revealing what I knew! All I would have done is condemn us all - myself, Junior, even Bonita and the baby - to a quick grave. As long as they suspected I knew more, they would keep us all alive, though I truly feared what I would do if they turned their attentions from Junior to dear Bonita."

"You've.." Shego trailed off, unsure how to respond. "I'm not sure what to say, Pops. Thanks really doesn't seem sufficient."

"Shego.. I have no doubts that Kimberly Ann Possible is quite possibly the most important person on the planet. I think you realized that when you went looking for her when she disappeared."

Shego blinked. "I thought I knew it, but out of idle interest, why do _you_ of all people think so?"

"You know that I believe in the archetypes of good, and evil, Shego; and though some might accuse me of being a mere 'hobby' player in the latter... I _have_ seen true evil, a monstrous evil far beyond that which I, or you, could have ever even imagined.

"Kimberly is important because she represents the very best of what humanity can be, and because she is a lightning rod for all the very worst of what humanity can be. She will be tested - many trials await her - but if I believe in her so much how could I possibly betray her when my own time to be tested came? How could I do that and look my family in the eyes afterwards?"

Shego blinked in surprise, then narrowed her eyes as his implications about her previous encounters with the redhead became clear… and then sighed when she realized that up until the Lowardian invasion, she and Drakken probably did represent a pretty poor example of what humanity could do with the gifts it was given.

 _Damnit, I'm going soft_ , she complained to herself, not for the first time.

"Yeah, well, the problem with lightning rods," Shego pointed out as she picked Senior up and carried him through the cell door. "Is that they tend to get struck repeatedly in a storm."

"Very true, Shego, very true. That is why it is important to ensure they are properly grounded."

Her head snapped to look at his at the tone of his voice, but the benign smile on his face gave nothing away.

"Don't even go there, Grandpa," she warned eventually as they made their way towards the control room. "You will _not_ enjoy the experience."

"Why Shego, whatever could you mean?" he asked innocently, and then grinned at the growl he received in return.

"I mean whatever is between Kimmie and I is between Kimmie and I, and is already likely enough to go poorly without busybodies interfering," she said angrily as she stepped into the elevator and slapped the button for the upper levels. "And no, I don't actually _know_ what's between Kimmie and I right now, thank you very much, we've been a little bit busy in the last few days to actually talk about it."

"You might want to _make_ time," Senior said, with a sad, wistful smile on his face as the elevator rose back to the level of the mansion. "I do so wish I had had more time to talk to Junior's mother, my dear beloved… unfortunately, we only ever get the time we are given, not the time we need or the time we want - and sometimes it's simply not enough..."

Shego nodded slowly at his words, then as the doors slid open she was confronted by Kim (her face once again covered by the suit) along with Bonnie, the two of them supporting Junior's considerable weight. Behind the three of them, the surviving Henches were gathered.

"We have a problem," Kim said before Shego could open her mouth.

"Besides you not being in the safe room?"

"Yes, _besides_ that," Bonnie said, frowning. "Wade was wrong - it wasn't just one transport, we've got a whole fleet of jets coming in, from all over the show, and the first is almost right on top of us."

"The dude who thought he'd laid a trap for me in the control center downstairs mentioned reinforcements being on the way," Shego said. "But he also said the air defense network was back online."

"It is," Bonnie replied, frowning. "But _somebody_ only wanted to turn the acquisition radars on, and not allow the system to actually launch missiles."

"We gave them pause, and gave _us_ enough time to get away," Kim pointed out. "At least, we did if we leave _now_."

"This is our _home_!" Bonnie exclaimed.

"Alas, my dear, our anonymous friend is correct," Senior said, surprising first Bonnie, then Kim as he threw her a wink. "We are no longer safe here on the island, and we should leave, assuming Shego is offering us a ride."

Shego nodded. " _Phoenix_ ," she said, emphasizing the name just enough. "Go grab the jet as quickly as you can - neither Senior is in a condition for a long walk, nor a few of the Henches. Stay low while you're out there, in case there are any other surprise visitors."

Kim nodded as she realized Shego had called her Phoenix to cover her true identity, although she wasn't sure for whose benefit, since Bonnie knew who she was, and Senior had clearly guessed. She eased Junior's weight on to one of the Henches and sprinted for the door, crossing the island at breakneck pace, her suit helping her stay balanced and upright through the draining run.

Five minutes later, she settled the jet down outside the main entrance to Senior's mansion, and Bonnie carried Senior while Shego half carried Junior and the Henches followed slowly. As soon everyone was on board and she heard the ramp lock closed, Kim powered up the engines and aimed them into the sky.

"We've got company coming in fast, so I'm going for broke. Strap in fast back there," she called, as Shego struggled forward into the cockpit, dropping into the copilot's seat. As soon as Bonnie called that they everyone in the rear was set, Kim punched the throttles forward to their stops, kicking in the afterburners, and the jet rocketed into the sky, even as two hypersonic transports and a half dozen Su-37 Flankers escorting them converged on the island.

Leaving the cumbersome transports in their wake and doing their best to evade the interceptors, Shego and Kim monitored the threat board as they raced towards Europe at maximum afterburner.

"Shit, if we can't lose these soon, we're in trouble - we'll have to drop out of afterburner," Kim said, tapping the fuel gauge with a finger.

Shego frowned. "I need another refuel… how? Oh crap, we must have taken a hit in one of the tanks from the shrapnel.. That's probably only enough to make it to Greece, France or Italy. Hey Pops!" she called back into the main cabin. "Got a line of credit at any airfields in southern France or Italy?"

"France!" Bonnie called back. "Aéroport Nice Côte d'Azur, we store the Lear there when we're on the continent."

"That works," Shego muttered. "Your Platinum card is paying for my top up," she shouted back.

Nobody in the rear seemed in any mood to argue as Kim threw the jet into another set of evasive maneuvers to break a radar lock from the only fighter that had kept up with them, before he too eventually gave up the chase and turned back a few minutes later.

"Whew," Kim breathed a sigh of relief as they watched the blip on the radar fall further and further behind, until she felt comfortable dropping out of afterburner and back to cruising speed. "I think we're clear."

Shego shook her head. "They'll still follow us," she said. "Those transports wer slowing down to land, but you can bet they'll refuel and scramble after us."

The Kimmunicator buzzed on Kim's wrist, startling the two of them. Before Kim could tap the button to answer it, Shego had reached down to one of her control panels and linked the device into the MFDs in the cockpit. Wade's face appeared before them.

"What's going on?" Shego asked.

"We've got a big problem," the young black man reported.

"Bigger than the two transports full of angry soldiers bound to be on our tail, and the leak we currently in our fuel tanks, not to mention the fact that Senior had to evacuate his island?" she asked.

Wade paused for a second, and then nodded, bringing a look of alarm to both Kim and Shego's face. From behind them, a soft exclamation of surprise came from Bonnie, who'd made her way into the cockpit, brought two piercing gazes aimed straight at her.

"Sorry!" she said quickly. "I just… Junior's sedated, and Senior is staying with him. I just wanted to check on things up here and I overheard.."

"This is going to affect the Seniors, too," Wade added quietly.

Shego looked at Kim. Kim looked back, and then nodded minutely.

"If it's relevant, she can pass it on to Senior." Shego turned back to Bonnie. " _Only_ Senior, please."

Bonnie nodded her understanding, and Kim turned back to the main screen.

"Go ahead, Wade."

"In about six hours, for the next major news cycle, the President is going to announce that you're alive, Kim."

Three simultaneous voices shouted " _What?_ " at the exact same moment, prompting Wade to feign hiding behind his computer screen.

"You know, normally I'd just take your word for it Wade, but I think this time, I'm going to need an explanation as to how you know that," Kim said.

"I thought you might say that," he said, and hit a few keys that replaced most of the screen with a scrolling text. "About thirty minutes ago, a package was delivered to the White House that contained evidence gleaned from the autopsy that showed conclusively that the person shot on the steps of the Capitol was not one Kimberly Ann Possible, but was rather a shapeshifter disguised to look like her."

Kim felt an intense fatigue settle over her, and tried to resist the urge to burst into tears at the sudden pain that squeezed her chest.

They'd known that the secret would get out sooner or later, but she'd longed for more time to discover the conspirators.. and more time to work out how to tell her parents, who were still mourning her supposed death.

"On top of that, they were emailed a video that looks like it was taken from inside Senior Mansion, of a blonde girl whose facial features match Kim Possible's standing next to Bonnie Senior. The President is apparently taking the view that Kim has betrayed the country and is now working with the Seniors in some villainous plot."

"Me working with _her-_ "

"Well, guess you _have_ joined the other side, Kimmie!"

Bonnie and Shego looked at each other, then burst out laughing despite the seriousness of the situation. When they noticed that Kim wasn't laughing, Bonnie leaned forward and put a hand on Kim's shoulder. "Hey Kim... Kim! I'm sorry, okay? They must have placed a hack into our internal security system after their first assault to get that footage."

" _That's_ what he meant!" Shego exclaimed, slapping her palm against her forehead. "I thought something was going on when the Chief Doofus in charge said 'We have what we came for'. I thought he meant something from the Seniors, but he wanted _us_ \- or more specifically, _you._ "

Kim nodded slowly, trying to breathe normally through the panic that was threatening to overtake her again. "How did you get all this, Wade?" she asked eventually, while Shego and Bonnie shared a concerned look.

"I have a spectacularly good source inside the White House?" At Kim's sigh, he held ups his hands. "Alright, so I might have slipped a compromised USB drive into the purse of the President's main speechwriter and let her do the rest... social hacking, gotta love it. I've had a hack on her computer for a few years now. She's typing up his announcement to the world as we speak."

Shego and Bonnie both laughed again, and the latter leaned forward. "Any chance you could put that.."

Wade frowned. "No."

"Aww, just one little.."

"Whatever you're about to ask for, Ms Senior, no."

Shego's laughter continued as Bonnie folded her arms and huffed, then she noticed Kim's quiet, contemplative look. "I know that look. What are you thinking, Princess?"

Kim took a moment to blink out of her thousand yard stare. "I'm worried... I'm worried what this is going to do to my parents, to my brothers, to everyone around them, too. I worry that they're just about to have an even bigger target painted on them... and I'm worried that this could make it so much more difficult for us to work through the conspiracy. How are we going to get anything done when the whole world is looking for a blonde Kim Possible working with Shego and the Seniors?"

Bonnie patted her on the shoulder again. "Got a pretty straightforward solution for the last problem, at least," she said, with another grin.

"Oh yeah?" Shego asked.

"I just happen to know the best hairdresser in all of Europe works in Nice.."

 **KP KP KP**

A few minutes later, Kim excused herself, and Shego took over the controls. The young woman looked suddenly exhausted, and when Shego told her so she simply dropped her head, before pulling up her hood and stumbling out of the cockpit. To Shego's surprise, Bonnie slid carefully into the copilot's seat a moment later, and while she was quiet for a few minutes, she eventually turned to Shego and started asking pointed questions about Kim's health - physical _and_ mental.

Shego was dismissive of her concerns at first, until Bonnie had pointed out that the she could lay claim to knowing Kim nearly as well as anyone except her family (or Ron), and she could clearly see that Kim wasn't the same person she had been.

"She's on the edge of losing it, Shego," Bonnie hissed. "She's so desperate for control that she's trying to hold on to something - anything - that isn't changing in her life in order to ground her against a world that's she feels is trying to destroy her - and she might very well be right! Right now, that one thing that's not changing is you."

Shego refused to meet her eyes, so she rushed on ahead anyway.

"Look, I don't know what Senior said to you, but I think I can guess, based upon my talks with the Old Man: he thinks she's important, save the cheerleader save the world, yadda yadda. Well, much as it pains me to have to admit it, I think he's right. She _is_ important, Shego, and I swear to god if you fuck up and let her fall apart..."

Shego merely raised an eyebrow.

"I will find you and kill you myself - _somehow_."

Bonnie levered herself out of the seat and stalked out of the cockpit. She paused at the exit, and without looking backwards, let Shego have one last salvo. "At least _talk_ to her. Tell her how you feel!"

She was gone before Shego could respond, and the green woman found herself totally alone as she flew them on toward Nice, chasing a mournful sunset that bathed the sky in blood red.

When they finally arrived at Nice and had parked the jet inside the hangar rented by the Seniors, Kim and Bonnie disappeared, leaving Shego do the maintenance work sealing the leaking fuel tank by herself - first pumping all the remaining fuel in it across to another, undamaged tank, then applying a patch with a _very_ careful application of her plasma power. Once she'd tested its integrity and was satisfied the patch would hold, at least for the short term, she topped off the fuel tanks courtesy of Senior's accounts, and set off to gather a few supplies from a nearby supermarket, before heading back to the airport.

They'd been on the ground for nearly two hours by this point, and Shego was starting to get antsy.

It seemed like the surviving Henches had signed on directly with Senior for the time being, and they'd been generous enough to act as security for the Hangar while the elderly villain sourced his own transport onward, and Shego stood uneasily with the Henches while they waited for Kim and Bonnie to return. To a man, all of them seemed eager to disappear with Senior, and when Shego finally voiced her suspicions about the soldiers that had attacked the island being Jack's, Ralph had slowly nodded.

"We always hear rumors," he said cautiously, looking around the others for support. "Sometimes you wonder if they're the sort that get started by Management, to keep the Hench Corps in line through fear... but I'm starting to wonder how many other rumors might have more grains of truth to them."

She nodded, and looked over at Sam, who was thinking.

"You and your friend in black going to be okay on your own?" he asked eventually. Shego didn't bother hiding the grin. _If only you guys knew how well we could take care of ourselves._ She paused, and Bonnie's words came back to her. _Usually,_ she amended her mental boast.

"We'll be okay. I'd worry more about yourselves, given Jack's well known dislike of disloyalty."

They nodded, as Bonnie and the black-suited figure of Kim returned, stopping just out of earshot and talking to each other for a few moments. To Shego's surprise, Bonnie suddenly leaned forward and gave the smaller girl a tight hug, one that lasted a few uncomfortable moments until Kim tentatively returned it. They separated, and then Bonnie smiled, gave her a gentle shove towards Shego, and waved the Henches to her. "Time to go, fellas. The Old Man has a ride organised, and a destination, too. We'll have to stop for some warm gear on the way, though. Oh, and bring the other one, too. Senior has a few questions he'd like to ask."

Both Ralph and Sam stopped to shake Shego's hand in thanks, and the others nodded deferentially to her as they left, carrying the ex-Cerberus soldier between them. Kim and Shego watched the henches load him and then themselves into the back of the anonymous black van that had dropped the two women off. Bonnie climbed back into the front, then with a squeal of tires it was gone, and the two of them were alone on the tarmac, with only the jet and the looming hangar for company.

The second the van was out of sight, Kim pulled back her hood, and Shego was startled by a dramatic change it revealed.

"You.. you went back?" she asked in confusion, as Kim ran her hand through her short - but once again bright red - hair.

She nodded slowly. "If they're looking for a short haired blonde woman who looks like me, Bonnie suggested throwing them off by looking more like redhead me. I could pass myself off as my cousin, or something. C'mon, lets get going."

Shego pondered that statement as she climbed back on board and taxied the jet out of the hangar. It didn't quite add up - if she remembered right, Kim's cousin Joss had brown hair, not red - and that would have been an easier dye job too, not to mention being less distinctive.

She sensed Bonnie's hand in the choice of color, and wondered at her game.

As the echoing boom that told her that the doors to the hangar had been pulled closed was followed by light footsteps and the whine of the ramp closing, she decided not to push it - unless Kim brought it up first. For now.

The tired redhead - that was going to take getting used to - settled back into the copilots seat and strapped in, and Shego fed power to the VTOL jets and lifted them into the sky. She engaged the cloak and climbed steadily back into the sky, pointing the nose west, once again setting off in chase of the sun, as they headed back across the Atlantic towards the United States.

A few hours into the flight, as they skirted a massive storm that had formed in the mid-Atlantic and looked to be spinning in to a Cyclone, Kim finally asked a question Shego had been on edge expecting ever since Bonnie's confrontation.

"Shego… why are you really helping me?"

"Do you really want to know the truth?" Shego asked warily, but Kim went on as if she hadn't heard her.

"I mean… I know you say you respect me," she added - and Shego heard no trace doubt in the young woman's voice, more a sense that respect wasn't the _complete_ story. "But that isn't all of it, is it?"

Shego stared out at the flashing of massive lightning bolts only a few hundred miles away from them for a long while, before she sighed and shifted heavily in her seat. _Might as well let the shit hit the fan now, I guess. I should have told her this before..._

"No, it's not all of it."

"Why _did_ you come after me?" Kim asked softly, and Shego could sense that she was simultaneously dreading and desperately desiring the answer.

"Because I was afraid that whatever you encountered that made you run… might end up turning you into _me_ ," Shego answered, equally softly.

"Turn me.. Evil?" Kim asked, after a few minutes of silence.

Again Shego didn't answer for a while, then she nodded slowly, her eyes never moving from the storm.

"What happened?" Kim asked carefully. "You've never told me... you've never told _anyone_ why you..."

Shego didn't answer for another long period of time, as she tried desperately to marshal her thoughts and find the right way to tell this _right_.

Kim let the silence in the cockpit go on as long as necessary. Some instinctive part of her told her that this was _important_ , that the two of them needed to talk about this, that without true honesty, they'd eventually break apart… and with the forces apparently arrayed against them, going alone was a guarantee of failure.

She couldn't lose Shego, not now. She knew now that she relied too much on her ex-nemesis.

"When I was eighteen, we'd been doing the Team Go thing for… nearly four years," Shego eventually said, her voice so quiet that Kim struggled to heard her over the engines. "It had been Hego's idea, of course… it started as a way for him to get some kind of meaning out of what had happened to our parents when that damn meteor hit... but it was also as a way of getting out from under the thumb of the _agency_ that was… _studying_ us." Shego spat the words 'agency' and 'studying' with so much venom that Kim instinctively flinched away from her, but Shego's eyes never saw it, locked as they were on the storm and the dancing, destructive light within.

She clenched her hands, then consciously tried to relax them when she heard the flight stick protest at the treatment she was giving it.

"We were still under their thumb, of course, but it was a level of freedom we hadn't known before… and then the agency decided we should attend school again, instead of being tutored in the labs. It was to 'help with our integration with the public'." She scoffed. "The boys loved it of course, but I _hated_ it. They could turn their powers off, I was always fucking _green_. Do you know what kids do to people who aren't like them?" she asked rhetorically.

Kim nodded. She knew exactly what kids could be like. She'd been there - she'd _done_ it, to her shame.

"I did anything I could to avoid school. I started skipping class, but the school told the Agency and they threatened to lock me back up… permanently. So I tried a new tactic - I stayed out at night, even after Hego called us back in from patrol, and I found the biggest, meanest, baddest people in Go City, then I fought them. I always won, of course, but I hope I would come in with so many bruises on me that they'd have to keep me out of school or questions would be asked… and that's when I discovered how good my stupid healing factor was. It kicked into overdrive. I couldn't fucking win, it was a choice between miserable in the lab, miserable at school, or miserable out in the city…"

Kim's smaller hand slowly and carefully eased its way into hers, and gave a slow squeeze. Shego looked down at the hands, then across at the former heroine, and smiled sadly before returning her gaze to the storm.

"As I said… I was eighteen, Hego was nineteen, and the two of us had been out all night on a patrol.. Mego and the Weegs were supposed to be in bed cause of a test or something. Anyway, we'd been trying to track these particularly clever criminals going after research labs across the city, without much luck, and we were exhausted and off guard cause we were six blocks from home, and that's the moment both of us felt a series of darts hit our backs." She swallowed.

"The next thing I knew, I was waking up shackled to a metal stake while some guy was standing in front of me, holding an honest to god burning torch, ranting at me about the devil and demons and that he was an avenging angel sent by God to cleanse the city of the wicked."

"Oh my god," Kim whispered.

"I could see Hego, and he looked like he was unconscious but I couldn't see if he was actually _breathing,_ and I didn't know whether he'd been given more and it had killed him, or if my body had somehow survived it, but I was on my own with this maniac who was going to kill me… he kept alternating between pouring water over me and stacking more wood underneath me... he said that he had to purify me. I'll give you three guesses as how he was going to do that. The first two don't count," she said, in an utterly broken voice.

"I've never… I can't ever forget…" Shego started and stopped a couple of times. "There's a particular smell of burning flesh that never goes away… that you just _can't_ forget. When he… when he... came close and told me that he was going to kill me, and then Hego, and then Mego and the twins... I lit up, Kim. As hot as I've ever gotten, and he dropped the torch onto the wood underneath me. He kept screaming about vengeance and my whole body flashed so hot I melted the stake, I melted the stake and the shackles into my skin, and my plasma kept it hot, kept it burning me the whole time… but he just kept screaming as he… he burned... right in front of my face. I watched him die… I _felt_ him die."

Shego swallowed a few more times. "I eventually managed to get him… his body… off me, and I stumbled over to Hego… I found out that he had an IV in his arm that was feeding more tranquilizers into him... thankfully he woke up a few minutes after I ripped it out, but when he found out what had happened…"

She choked back a sob.

"He actually blamed me. He said it would ruin us as heroes if it got out that I had killed someone! He said I should have found another way. Another way! The guy was about to _kill_ me - and _my baby brothers_ \- and he said I should have found another way!" Shego's voice was nearly hysterical, until she felt the small hand holding hers squeeze again, and latched onto the physical contact to keep her in the present, not slip back into the memories that threatened to drown her.

After another long pause, she finally continued.

"I ran… I have no idea how he cleaned it up. Called in a favor or something, I suppose, because by the time he came and found me curled up in a gutter a week later, it was like nothing had ever happened. Nobody ever mentioned the guy again - apart from the missing persons report that was filed when a well known extremist Pastor didn't show up at his local church."

Kim shuddered in sympathy.

"And that's why you left?" she asked.

"Not immediately," Shego replied slowly. "But looking back, was it the thing that started the wedge that split me from my brothers? Yeah."

The dark of night, still lit by flashes from the massive storm system that was slowly falling behind them, matched the gloomy atmosphere of the cockpit as they flew on towards the US.

"I didn't know how to deal with it," Shego admitted eventually. "Nothing seemed to make me forget the smell, the sound, the sight… my memories were too good. And if I wasn't reliving it during the day, I was at night. The nightmares were worse. The ones where he survived, where he kept burning alive forever and ever, where he was on fire and strangling me in my own bed... I stopped sleeping, too. Then one night, after we broke up a drug smuggling ring, for some unknown reason, I kept a bit of the ecstasy the cops were confiscating, and it was the first time I had found anything that dulled the memory enough for me to feel like… feel like life was worth living."

Kim cursed the cramped confines of the cockpit and the harness that was keeping her in her seat, because she wanted nothing more than to throw herself onto the other woman and hug her for as long as possible. She knew it wouldn't take the pain of the memories away - there was probably nothing that ever _could_ \- but maybe, just maybe it would help her, even for a little bit?

Might help them both?

She had to settle for squeezing her hand tight again, and felt a slight lift in her heart when Shego squeezed back.

"I started stealing seized drugs from across the city. Police station evidence lockers were nothing in the face of my plasma powers," Shego said, her voice shaky. "I guess it never even occurred to me that the agency could have probably provided pure versions of it, purer than the street crap I was snorting or popping or injecting but… I was eighteen. I didn't know any better. Hego eventually figured it out, of course. He read me the riot act all over again - _'imagine what a drug addict member would do to our reputation'_ \- and when I told him _why_ , he said I should just deal with it... and then he twisted the knife by saying that it wouldn't be an issue if I'd just found another way in the first place."

She looked over at Kim. "I couldn't deal with that second betrayal. I ran, and in the course of running I went off the deep end. I lost myself in a haze of constant drugs and alcohol and everything under the sun. I honestly don't know how I didn't die - my healing factor must have been working harder than it ever had before to keep me going, to flush the shit from my system, but I never let it get me close to sober. I spent six months in the gutters and slums of Go City, New York, Philadelphia, DC... I chased the high across the country until one day… one day a funny man with small hands and a blue complexion stumbled over my comatose body and somehow recognized me."

"Drakken." It wasn't a question.

"Drakken. He took me in, figured out very quickly what I'd been doing to myself, and somehow - I've never been sure how - sourced a supply of methadone. Enough to keep me buzzing and forgetting, not enough to kill me or knock me out. He kept talking to me the whole time, never about what had happened, or what I'd been doing to myself… he only had eyes for one thing…"

Shego made a wry smile. "He wanted to take over the world, and he wanted my help in doing it. _'Think of it, Shego,'_ he'd say. _'The entire world at our beck and call! Anything we want, anything at all, would be ours. The people who hurt you… you could hurt them right back.'_ That was the hook that landed me - a chance to hurt the people who'd hurt me, who'd let me suffer and blamed me for trying to help myself. That's when Drakken got me to sign up. He even drew up a proper contract, too, I couldn't believe it… as a sort of bad joke, I asked him for Australia and Greenland, and he nearly had a hissy fit till he remembered how hot and cold they were and decided they were better off with me."

Kim couldn't help the little laugh that sneaked past her lips. A half second later, and Shego laughed too, and for a brief glorious moment, the two of them were both laughing at the silliness of Drew Lipsky, rather than dwelling the sadness of Shego's past - or the situation they were in now.

Shego eventually sobered. "He was pretty good, too, in those early days," she said softly. "Smart - brilliant even. He knew exactly what he was doing, and had plans to get it… he just kept getting frustrated by the details. He realized I had extra skill sets besides just superpowered bodyguard, and started getting me to steal things. The first few didn't go so well - who'd have thought high tech labs have better security than suburban police station evidence lockers, huh? So I started training myself, had him build bigger and better security mockups and then training on them. I learnt to pick locks, to open safes, to pull off some incredible heists. _He's_ the one who figured out I could twist my plasma effect to disrupt some electronic equipment, if it isn't shielded right. _He's_ the one who helped me design the upgrades to my claws to let me channel tiny amounts of plasma. Then with all this training, he let me loose on the world, as a freelancer when I wasn't working directly for him, letting me have fun all around the globe, stealing to my hearts content - or my clients requirements."

She sighed almost wistfully. "I miss that Drakken. He really could have taken over the world, you know."

"What happened?" Kim asked, more than a little curious at the vastly different version of Drakken she never remembered meeting.

"Well, this annoying little redhead cheerleader kind of showed up and busted up his first big scheme," Shego said, with a rueful smile. "After that, World Domination sort of seemed to be playing second fiddle to proving that _you_ weren't all that. The more times you stopped us… the worse it got. He kept focusing on you as the cause of all his failure, and seemed to get stuck in a loop. The one time - the only time - he managed to get around that… well…"

"Bueno Nacho."

"Yeah."

 _The less said about that, the better,_ Kim quietly thought.

They carried on in silence for another few minutes.

"So in the end, Kim, I guess I came after you because I was afraid that you'd fallen into the same dark place I had, and that someone, somewhere, might find you and twist you, make you into something that you weren't - aren't. I didn't want to see you become _me_."

Kim smiled at her. "Every time I think I've seen the real you, there's always a little bit more to get to know," she said softly, and when Shego opened her mouth, Kim rushed ahead. "That's not a criticism! I'm just... I'm just glad that you trust me enough to let me know the truth of... this. That means a lot to me. And for what it's worth... I like this version of you. Not sure about the path you took to get here, but the results are okay."

Shego's mouth snapped shut for a minute, then she finally sighed. "Yeah, well… now you know."

Kim's smile became a full blown grin. "Thank you, Shego."

"You're welcome, Princess."

For another hour they flew on in the darkness, each lost in their own thoughts.

Shego wondered if she'd done the right thing, opening up the locked doors that had held back her past for so many years. The things she'd done... could Kim really just ignore that? Could she forget the past they shared as well? Had telling Kim the truth of her turn to evil been a selfish act, had she just wanted another person to share the pain and misery that had made her _her_ for so many years? Or had it helped Kim to deal a little bit with her own demons, the fear and worry that had originally driven her into running from Tokyo, and kept her trapped in Sydney, not yet ready to return and face the world?

Kim, for her part, worried that Shego had shared something she hadn't wanted to because she'd been pushed into it. That fear built upon previous fears about the green-skinned woman's reason for helping her that had never fully evaporated, and it sat on top of the other fears that still continued to freeze her in place dangerously whenever they seized her. On the island, when Bonnie had wanted to blow the second wave of planes out of the sky, she'd hesitated almost too long, before disabling the missiles. She'd nearly let her bloodthirst take over again and kill _more_ people... and she worried that it was becoming too easy to be that person that let death in the door, like she'd opened it and never been able to fully seal the door again.

She made a note to talk to Kate Watson when they landed...

 _Beep-beep-be-beep_. The familiar four tone ring of the Kimmunicator interrupted that thought.

"What's the sitch, Wade?" Shego asked, surprising both him and Kim.

"Right phrase, way wrong person. But God I missed hearing that." He smiled briefly at her, then his face darkened. "Got some more bad news for you - I think you need to divert to Chicago."

"Why, what's in Chicago?"

"Dr Director - and I think she's in trouble. Check out this news footage I just caught the tail end of."

" _Live now to Chicago where FBI agents have just confirmed they have arrested a woman tentatively identified as Elizabeth Director, reportedly head of the secretive Global Justice organisation that was accused by slain teen heroine Kim Possible of plotting to attack the US in a false flag operation to shore up support for greater powers worldwide. Here's Tom Stanforth with more."_

Kim's mouth dropped open as vision of Dr Director being led away in handcuffs into an FBI vehicle played for them.

"Got a location for us?" Shego asked.

"Nope," Wade replied. "They went off the grid - she never arrived at the local FBI Field Office for processing. CPD haven't seen her either."

"That is _not_ a good sign," Shego commented.

"I agree. I've been looking for _anything_ that could help us, but so far I've come up blank - and you _know_ that's not normal. Someone is doing their best to keep this away from me - and I think by extension, you."

"I know a couple of people who might be able to help," Shego said slowly. " _Might_ being the operative word. And Kim, you're probably not going to like who they are."

Kim looked over at her, and saw a frown forming on Shego's face. "There's a saying about ends justifying the means - I never really used to believe it, but lately I've had to become a little more.. flexible.."

Shego's frown morphed into a sly smile. "I'm just going to bypass the opportunity for a really easy crack there, and move right along to calling for help. Wade, let me know if you find anything before we hit Chicago."

"Sure thing," he replied, and disconnected. Shego flicked her eyes over the controls and instruments, then looked over at Kim. "Can I trust you to stay quiet and keep an eye on things up here while I talk to my contact? And if you overhear things, not tell _anyone_ about them? And I do mean _anyone_."

Kim nodded slowly. "I can do that."

"Good. Take over, then." Shego slid out of her seat and grabbed the laptop that was sitting secured to a docking station in the rear of the cockpit, one Kim had noticed but had never seen open - or even powered on - before. "Let's see if Senior was as good as his word about getting me a new account, and if my contacts are willing to accept it's bona fide."

Five minutes later, after going through the security setup then linking the laptop to the jets external communications array, Shego brought up a secure browser, logged into Tor to anonymize her connection completely, navigated to an IP address she kept stored only in her memory, and waited. Fifteen seconds of analyzing the screen let her retrieve the correct username/password combination from another part of her memory, which she used to log in and initiate a secure voice chat session.

"Shego? Shego darling, is that you? Do you have _any_ idea what time it is?" A cultured English voice suddenly emanated from the laptop's speakers.

"Hey Sapphire, how's it going?"

"My gosh, it is you! You know, I almost thought you were _dead_ for a while there… I hear nothing from you for nine months, your accounts dry up completely, and all that after _going legit?_ "

Shego blushed, and even though she knew the woman on the other end couldn't see it, still felt embarrassed. "I didn't go legit!" she protested.

"Uh, forgive my cynicism darling, but you got a pardon and a medal for, and I'm going to quote the UN citation from memory here, ' _For conspicuous gallantry in aiding teen heroine Kim Possible to save the world from the Lowardian invasion.'_ Sweetie, they handed them out in a ceremony - you wore green. Drakken got one too, as I recall, but I never really paid attention to him."

"Yeah well it wasn't intentional, okay?" Shego snapped, then paused. "Wait, no, that didn't come out right. It was intentional that I saved the world, because despite all the shitty things it's done to me, I kinda still like parts of it enough to want them to still exist, okay? The pardon thing, and then the funds drying up bit, _that_ wasn't intentional. Well, the pardon's been okay, I suppose."

There was a pause on the other end, then a titter of laughter came through. "Oh Shego, _darling_ , you're always so easy to wind up."

"What?"

"Darling, do you _really_ think I didn't know why your account suddenly dried up? I figured you had to hand over most, if not all of your ill gotten gains when you did your deal with Betty Director. No, I'm mostly surprised it's taken you this long to get in touch with me - or any of the other contacts of yours, to put the band back together."

"I'm not exactly putting the band back together, Sapphire."

"No? Why do I get the feeling this just became a lot less business, and a lot more personal?"

"Because it is personal. Betty Director.. she helped me when she didn't have to, and now I feel like I have to return the favour to keep my ledger even."

"Ahh, so you're heading to Chicago then."

"You're as good as always."

"Would you pay me if I wasn't it?"

"Not sure if I can pay you this time, unless.."

"Oh darling, you haven't even checked your operating accounts yet, have you? Sweetheart, you're fine for my services for at least the next ten years or so."

" _What_?" Shego asked again.

"Judging by the timing of the transfer, I'd say you did something nice for Senior Sr in the last 24 hours, because a big chunk of money just left his accounts, and landed in yours."

"How… how big a chunk?"

"A _small_ big chunk - for him, maybe - only fifty million."

There was a coughing noise from the cockpit, and Shego shot a glare at Kim, who had turned around in her seat with an incredulous look on her face. She waved a hand to shush her, then turned back to the screen.

"You're kidding me."

"Not at all, my dear. Have you lost your faith in my ability to manage your operating accounts?"

"No, it's just.." _Okay, Senior must have transferred the money just after we left him in Nice. Good to know the old man is grateful but.._ "Nevermind. Okay, I have operating capital again, and it's more than I'm used to having, which is nice.."

"I'll prepare investment portfolio options for you over the next few days, shall I?" Sapphire asked, and Shego could hear the wide smile on the face of the woman, whose day job as an investment banker was almost the perfect cover for a money fixer - and gave her access to all sorts of secrets and contacts who had even more, all for the right price.

"Sure, go ahead. Set aside five mil though, I'm going to be transferring that to a standalone fund for a.. for a friend."

She looked up at the cockpit, and again Kim's face was turned towards her, with an expression that alternated between shocked, horrified, and just a tiny bit grateful.

"This friend, does he have a name, and is he that good in bed?" Sapphire asked, and this time it was Shego who was covering a cough of surprise. "Oh, my mistake. Is _she_ that good in bed?"

" _Sapphire!_ "

"What? I'm just saying, you never really struck me as the type to share your wealth - I mean, after the first two or three times, you didn't give Drakken a dime - smart choice, by the way."

"Yeah, well.. this one is different. She's… special."

Sapphire didn't respond for a while. "I figured she must be," she said eventually. "Well, I'll make sure that gets done... I'll just put it in account named Kim for you, shall I?"

"Does bloody _everybody_ know?" Shego exclaimed, losing her composure finally and accidentally slipping into the British accent she'd perfected when she'd spent six months in the British Isles at one point. "First Bonnie, then Senior, and from what I can tell, Betty too?"

"Hey, don't blame me for being nosy," Sapphire said. "I figured it out when I saw a rumor about you pop up a couple of times in Sydney, at the end of a rather interesting trail that led from Tokyo down the South East Asian peninsula. Putting it all together took a bit of work though. Your operating funds must have been from somewhere else because I couldn't work out where you were getting the money you must have been spending."

"Kim's tech boy," Shego muttered. "And I thought I was being ultra careful."

"Ahhh, Wade Load. No wonder I couldn't find anything there. That boy is a black hole. And don't worry, you were careful - I doubt there's more than a dozen people in the world who could put together what I did to make the guess - and it _was_ just a guess that you sort of just confirmed for me," Sapphire said.

"Yeah, well, it was a good one, and now you've got me worried that other people could have made the same guess."

"Like I said.. a dozen people, tops, only if they had access to all the same sources I did... and _most_ of those people like you enough to _not_ go digging like that, unless they're being paid to. Which I don't think anyone is."

"That's less reassuring than you might think," Shego said wryly.

"Well, it's the best I've got, darling. Anyway.. what exactly in Chicago did you call me for help with, if you're working with Wade Load?"

"He lost track of Betty's 'FBI' transport somewhere in Chicago, and she never made it to the local Field Office to be processed, nor has she shown up in any of the CPD precincts."

"Ohhh, that's not a good sign," Sapphire said.

"No kidding," Shego replied.

"You think she's at the Homan Square black site? You want me to get a list of current prisoners and the cell numbers?"

"I don't think they'd risk her there," Shego said. "It's gotten some bad publicity lately, so I was thinking they'd take her even deeper."

"Right.. give me a few hours to dig up what I can, and I'll get back to you via the normal method," Sapphire said. "Oh, and by the way, say hello to Kim for me, would you? I've always admired her, even if she seemed a little bit naive sometimes."

"Sure, Sapphire. She heard, she's flying the jet right now."

There was a pause, then another titter of laughter. "Oh my dear, you _have_ gone soft. Letting someone else fly your baby?"

"Good _bye_ , Sapphire," Shego growled, terminating the connection, and ignoring the laughter coming from the cockpit.

* * *

 **A/N:** Well, there you go. Two hooks set for next chapter, and our heroes back on the road. But it's still going to be bumpy.

I originally had written Shego's backstory differently, using a horrible tired old cliche that I'm very glad I decided NOT to use, because it's just.. unnecessary. This version works a bit better, at least in my mind. I hope you guys reading it feel the same guy punches I did when writing it - when it was dropping in fully formed in my head I was feeling bad but actually writing it all out... that sucked. I definitely understand why someone who went through that would turn out the way Shego did.

See you soon with more. As always reviews, corrections, and suggestions are all welcome and appreciated!


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note** : Getting towards the business end now, folks. Got some big action set pieces set up and ready to roll in the next few chapters (I think there's probably only really 4 to go, at this rough chapter size thing I've got going on.) This one sets up the next domino to fall, and that one is gonna trigger the last few - or so I hope. This one also returns us to a favorite friend, and kind of links two of the main threads of the story together - and you can bet that's going to be important soon, too. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the next chapter of Shadow Plays.

Thanks as always, to those who've reviewed, I appreciate all the feedback.

 **Standard Disclaimer:** The various characters from the Kim Possible series are all owned by Disney. All registered trade names property of their respective owners. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

* * *

 **Kim Possible: Shadow Plays**

 **Chapter Thirteen** :

 **KP KP KP**

 _Unknown Location._

"My fellow Americans." A sober faced white man wearing a dark suit with a white shirt and red tie, sat at a desk in an office that was instantly familiar to the people viewing the special broadcast, looked down the camera and tried to project an air of integrity and trustworthiness - two things that a large percentage of the citizens of the country he was President of didn't believe he actually possessed - then laid his hands on the desk and leaned forward slightly.

"Just over a week ago, our country - in fact the whole world - witnessed a shocking tragedy unfold that took place on our very own doorstep, right here in the beating heart of the capital. A young woman - a true American hero - was ruthlessly gunned down live on television by operatives of a rogue 'security' agency who demonstrated a blatant disregard for the collateral damage that they caused, both around the victim, and during the chaos of their escape. The callous perpetrators of these crimes have yet to be brought to justice. The callous murder of Kim Possible sickened and saddened us all."

He folded his hands across the desk in front of him, and stared intently at the camera as he continued.

"However, new information from classified sources has been recently received regarding the assassination that I now have the somber burden of sharing with you all."

For a brief moment, he looked away from the camera and down at the desk, shuffling two or three files around, bringing one to the top, glancing at it for a second, then looking back up.

"I can now confirm that the woman gunned down on the steps of the Capitol building was _not_ Kimberly Ann Possible. I can confirm this not just because DNA testing of the body has been shown to not match any member of the Possible family, but also because the autopsy of the body showed it possessed a remarkable ability to change itself using advanced biotechnology - to shapeshift, in layman's terms - and while we are forced by necessity to keep the identity of that person secret for now, the main revelation - that Kim Possible was not the victim - _must_ be shared immediately, due to the second piece of information we have received."

The image cut to grainy footage from a security camera of some sort showing two people, one apparently brunette, the other a blonde, standing in a room together talking to each other..

"The following security images were secured from cameras on the private island of Ricardo Senior Sr, the notorious supervillain - who was in fact stopped by Kim Possible on several occasions in the past five years - and have been a confirmed time stamp dated less than twenty four hours ago. They clearly show Senior's daughter-in-law, Bonnie Senior, who also goes by her maiden name Bonnie Rockwaller, working alongside another young woman, wearing an advanced combat uniform, extremely competent with martial arts, and also some skill with electronics. As you can see in the following footage, she is very dangerous."

As the footage continued to roll, a group of four soldiers burst into the room and the blonde woman swung into action, rushing the group and dropping two of them before they could even react fully, throwing one into a wall and the other into a desk hard enough to knock him out. The other two backpedaled but the blonde advanced mercilessly, then dashed forward and threw a rapid fire combo of punches and kicks at both men simultaneously, until only she was left standing, panting slightly. The camera zoomed in on her face, which happened to be angled perfectly for the camera to get a closeup of her face.

Framed though it was by a blonde bob, it was a very familiar face to those watching.

"Advanced facial recognition software developed by the CIA was used to review this footage at the request of the intelligence staff members who first reviewed the footage and that software has confirmed with 99% certainty that this woman... is Kim Possible."

The captured footage faded to black and the broadcast returned to showing the President at his desk in the Oval Office.

"We also know that shortly _after_ this footage was taken, Bonnie Rockwaller and several associates, including Senior Sr and his son, fled the island via an unknown supersonic aircraft of some description, their course indicating a destination somewhere in Southern Europe. We also believe Kim Possible was travelling with them."

"Why is Kim Possible working with the Seniors? We do not yet know. Where has she been for the past year, before her apparent assassination? We do not yet know. Did she fake her own death, using a shapeshifting double that she set up to be murdered in her stead? _We do not yet know_. But I can promise the American people this - we will use every resource we have to bring Kim Possible, and anyone else associated with her, in for questioning,and we will find out."

His face turned stern, almost angry.

"She is not the first, but like the others before her who turned from the path of the hero to that of the villain, I promise that Kim Possible will find, like her predecessors did, that the United States will never surrender to villainy, no matter the form it takes."

"To that end, I have ordered the Attorney General, Department of Homeland Security, and the FBI to immediately form a task force dedicated to investigating any sighting or lead of Miss Possible and her known associates. All of our overseas assets will likewise be engaged in pursuit of her and her companions. Those of you who have previously been involved with her are asked to submit yourselves for questioning, as soon as you are contacted by local agents. I must stress, that this questioning is purely a matter of routine, and no one is yet under any suspicion... however refusal to cooperate with the investigation will be taken as confirmation of your direct involvement with her and warrant immediate detention and further interrogation."

"Kim Possible, the remaining rogue elements of Global Justice, will _not_ be allowed to threaten our great nation - as the villains she once fought but has now joined have threatened us in the past. She and anyone who shares her goals of harming this country or it's people, will be stopped."

"To the rest of my fellow countrymen and women, I ask for your support, your vigilance and your preparedness. Do not give into fear, do not give into doubts, but instead stand strong, united. Be wary of those who speak out against us, be wary of those who plot against us, be wary of those who stand with our enemies. Most of all, be willing to notify law enforcement if you see or hear anything that might lead to the capture of these women or their associates."

"These are perilous times but if we come together and stand united, I believe we can overcome any threat, no matter where or who it comes from."

"Thank you, and God bless America."

The cockpit display screen went black, and the cockpit fell back into the normal low illumination level for night flying. Lit only by the green and orange lighting coming from the instrument panel, Kim's face was contorted into an angry snarl. From the other chair, light laughter floated over, causing the look of anger to be replaced by one of shock as she looked over at the woman sitting in the other seat.

"Laying it on a little thick there, wasn't he?" Shego asked eventually, as Kim's glare at her wavered.

"I beg you.. Did you hear what..?" Kim half asked.

"Of course I did, Princess, I was sitting right here. C'mon, look at the bright side. You might have just beaten my record as fastest from hero to World's Most Wanted. Welcome to the other side."

"This isn't _funny_!" Kim half shouted.

Shego gave her a dubious look. "It kind of is, you have to admit. From my perspective, anyway. Look… if you let this get you too angry, you're going to be sloppy, and remember what we said about sloppy Kim?"

Kim took several deep breaths. "Sloppy Kim is dead Kim."

"Bingo. Now, Sapphire's given us the location, and intelligence on the layout inside, she's even offered to help out with operation support while Wade is busy. Our plan is pretty good - I'm certainly going to enjoy myself. Any last minute ideas?"

Kim shook her head.

Shego reached over and gave her shoulder a squeeze. "Well, get crawling, duct monkey. I'm gonna go prep for my big moment."

 **KP KP KP**

 _HenchCo Headquarters_

 _Nashville, Tennessee_

Jack Hench sat staring at the monitor on his desk in shock and disbelief. For a few solid minutes, no coherent thought managed to make it's way from one side to the other, everything was being shorted out in the middle by the revelations he'd just heard.

 _Possible was working with the Seniors?_

It didn't add up at first - old man Senior had been a proud member of her rogues gallery for years - the two of them had fought dozens of times in the past, before the girl had disappeared last year. There's no way she would ally herself with him… and yet, here was the clear proof.

Had something changed?

The gold digger who'd married Senior Jr - Rockwaller - could she have brought them together? No, that didn't fit what Jack knew about the two woman either - the intel that Beau had shown him said Rockwaller and Possible had been like wildcats at school, always at each other's throat. _What if we were wrong?_ he thought, then dismissed it. That intel was accurate, it had been confirmed by multiple sources from Middleton High.

What else could have brought Possible to the Seniors then? Who else knew...

And that was when it hit him.

 _Shego_.

Shego had worked with the Seniors several times. Shego had been on Senior island recently. Shego had been sighted at the FBI HQ, investigating the supposed Kim's body. Shego had always had an interest in Kim Possible.

And Kim Possible had just been sighted on Senior Island.

As soon as the thoughts solidified from the separate fragments into a coherent picture, Jack knew he was right without requiring any extra information.

Shego and Kim Possible were working together, and since Shego had been spotted at the FBI HQ, they were in the process of unraveling the trail left behind by the plan he and Vinnie Wheeler had put together - and it also suggested they might be working with Betty Director, since she too had been spotted on Senior Island.

It also explained why he was receiving no updates from the ground troops on the island, why the missile defenses there seemed to be active again, and why a jet had escaped just as his second wave of troops had arrived. They had returned there to rescue Senior and his family, and Jack had made an error in underestimating the forces needed for the first wave.

He had to take steps to prevent the trail leading back to him too quickly, before he was ready - if they figured out the troops were his, the trail would lead them to him immediately - but otherwise, they would figure it out eventually, of that, he was certain. There were no more resourceful, driven, and unstoppable people on the planet, and that was when they were working individually. As he worked through what he knew of each of them, his face paled further and his fear grew. They were always dangerous when separate, but now, together, the pair of them might well be unbeatable.

Now he was truly thankful that he'd developed a plan for getting rid of Wheeler. The man might know how to wheel and deal with the best of them, but he was an amateur when it came to staying afloat in an ocean full of sharks - and Jack knew he would sing like a canary when Shego or Possible eventually got hold of him.

Jack Hench was a survivor, and that meant being able to take a hit, absorb a loss, and still come out on top.

He pulled out his second phone, and dialed a number. _Time to get rid of two problems at once_.

"Hello?" The voice on the other end of the line was scrambled, but Jack still recognized it.

"It's me. Are you in position in Georgia?" He asked. "Is the new owner settling in?"

There was a long pause, followed by a dismissive snort. "This place sucks. It smells awful. I hope Director gets here soon... and as for the new owner, I don't like him, he's a sleazy asshole. He tried to hit on me yesterday, and didn't want to take no for an answer. I nearly had to break his hand."

Jack refrained from laughing - that was Wheeler alright. "I'll deal with it," he promised. "Stay put, my information suggests Director is on her way," he lied. "I'll be in touch."

Actually his information suggested Betty Director had just been picked up by the FBI and was currently the center of a jurisdiction debate between them, the Secret Service and Homeland Security, but that wasn't important.

He disconnected the phone and then pulled a key from a chain around his neck, using it to open the lock on the bottom most drawer in his desk. He carefully extracted a metal box, not much larger than a hardcover book, and used his palm on the handprint scanner built into the lid to open it, pulling out the small electronic device within.

He flicked the power button on the side of the small tablet, and after a few seconds, a small screen on the front displayed a rotating H, as it went through a boot sequence.

Jack waited nervously, having never actually followed the steps he was now undertaking before. When the device declared readiness, his hand was shaking enough that he had to re-enter the password twice before it was accepted and the simple screen loaded.

 _Please enter Lair ID Number._

Jack checked his laptop screen for the number he'd pulled up, just to be doubly sure, then entered the five digit ID code of the lair that he had convinced Vinnie Wheeler to take on.

 _Nothing personal,_ he thought briefly. _No, scratch that, it's absolutely personal. You threatened my company, you threatened_ ME.

He stabbed his thumb down on the flashing red "Confirm" button, and the device took a second as it processed his print, before the screen faded to black with only a single line of text in blood red.

 _Abbadon Process initiated._

Jack sat back down in his chair and waited.

A thousand miles away, in a newly minted lair that still smelled of oil and polish despite the best efforts of the sweat and other smells created by fifty henches and one owner to eliminate it, the small fusion reactor that was one of HenchCo's most profitable inventions had something unexpected happen deep within. Inside a section of titanium that had no function other than as a load bearing support, and on every blueprint and design document appeared utterly unremarkable, a receiver acknowledged a command that had been programmed in for a one time execution. It flicked an electronic switch, interrupting the power supply to a magnetic containment bubble.

The moment the power supply failed, a gram of antimatter was allowed to interact with the nearest matter - namely, the titanium support - and the resulting matter-antimatter annihilation generated nearly three times the energy released by the Little Boy atomic bomb that was dropped on the city of Hiroshima in 1945 - and did it in the space of less than a tenth of a second.

The massive energy release caused the lair to cease to exist in the next half a second as first the reactor, then the engineering spaces, then all the rest of the lair, including the people in it, were converted into highly concentrated plasma, which immediately began to seek an escape from the confinement the underground space provided.

Luckily for the nearby residents of Georgia, the depth of the lair meant that the vast majority of the _explosive_ effect of the annihilation reaction and conversion of several tons of lair and occupants to plasma was contained deep within the ground - though the three main and five emergency exits proved to be easy channels for the superheated plasma to race up and out, until it reached the surface and exited the vents with unstoppable force. That plasma utterly annihilated the house, barn, and shed that covered the first three, and melted the concrete and reinforced titanium structures that capped the latter five when the heat of the plasma burst through.

Over the course of the next five seconds, the rush of high energy plasma approximately the same temperature as the surface of the sun roared from all eight exits, scorching the ground for several hundred meters around until, energy exhausted, the pillars of fire vanished and the exits fell silent and dark for a moment or two. Then, with a sudden groaning sound punctuated by several sharp _crack_ sounds, the ground directly above the main portion of the lair collapsed, in the rough shape of a square, falling fifteen or twenty feet down before settling in an uneven mass.

From the small, quiet little town a half a mile away, the ringing of sirens and alarms echoed across the ground, as the reverberations of the explosion underground made their first impacts - both physical, and virtual.

 **KP KP KP**

 _Unknown location, Chicago._

Betty Director leaned back and turned her head to the side, spitting a glob of saliva and blood onto the floor, deliberately _not_ aiming at either of the other people in the room.

"Is that… is that the best you can do?" she berated them a moment later after recovering her equilibrium. "Come on, I hurt more than this after helping my grandma move house back when I was ten."

The bigger of the two men growled and then with an open hand, slapped her again, rocking her head from left to right, then he followed up with a backhand, snapping her head back to the other side again. Her cheeks stung from the blows, but she forced them to form a grin on her face anyway.

"Seriously? You're just going to sit there slapping me? Come on, I've been hit harder by _fifth graders_!" she taunted weakly, ignoring the ringing in her ears.

This time, his fist was clenched and cocked back to strike her much harder, when another voice cut through the room.

"Enough!"

The large man slowly lowered his fist, glaring with barely restrained fury in his eyes.

"Mason, Walters, leave the room. She's had enough for now, she's on the verge of passing out, she _wants_ you to beat her unconscious because then we can't ask her any more questions. We'll give her an hour or so to recover."

The two men filed out, the small, weedy man following the larger one, and as he turned to shut the door, he leered at her and winked.

Betty shook her head. She wasn't sure how long she'd been in the room. She wasn't sure how long she'd been unconscious before she woke up in the room. She wasn't even sure if she had woken up in the room more than once - things were blurry from being tasered to the most recent wake up call of cold water. She wasn't getting any read on how long she'd been out of circulation from any of the questions that were being asked, either.

She didn't even know what agency they worked for yet, but she was leaning towards either DHS or CIA - they certainly didn't follow standard FBI protocol for interrogation, that much was certain, and the general air of the room didn't have a very 'cop' vibe that most FBI rooms did.

As she slouched back in the chair as far as possible, she clenched her hands into fists then released them over and over, trying to get blood flowing to them through the restraints that were tight around her wrists. She cast her mind back to the last thing she remembered - confronting Senator Roberts in Chicago.. Her mind went hazy as soon as she tried to think about what had happened. _Short term memory loss_ , she realized. _Side effect from the stun from the taser and the little sleepy time, probably_.

 _Something_ had clearly happened, though, and she was fairly certain now that, like Willard, Roberts wasn't one of the conspirators in the plot to uproot GJ by assassinating the fake Kim Possible and then stealing the Lowardian technology from Delta site, the only problem was, she couldn't remember what she had actually discovered…

She must have drifted off after all, because when she came to again, Mason and Walters - she still hadn't figured out which one was actually which yet - were back in the room, along with another person she hadn't seen before.

"Hello again Betty," the new person said, and she recognized his voice as the one who'd ordered a stop to her beating earlier. "Now that you've had a chance to rest up a little, I thought we'd have a little chat."

Betty opened her mouth to retort sarcastically, but he held up a hand before she could get started.

"No no, let me go first. I want to tell you a little story." He eased back into his chair.

"It starts with a bright young star, who becomes disillusioned with her place of work, and decides, eventually, after too many years making horrific compromises, to make something better - not only better, but bigger, too. She starts out idealistic, and for a while she's amazingly successful... but along the road she travels as she builds her dream, she realizes she still has to make compromises. Most of them are small, some of them are meaningless… but some of them… some of them are nasty. Some of them are ugly. Some of them, they tear up our young heroine's soul."

He looked down his nose at her, pausing for effect. "How am I doing so far?"

She stared back at him, refusing to answer.

"Fine, be like that. As the years go by, as they always do the compromises start to require more and more of her attention. They become more dangerous. Then one or two of them go away, thanks to an accidental intervention by someone outside of the business. Then another one. Our heroine tries to take advantage of this, and spins it to her profit as best she can. Then the outside takes care of another compromise and another and another until suddenly… suddenly the only compromises left behind are the ones that can't be fought, can't be locked away, can't be hidden in a prison cell - or worse. They're the ones inside our idealistic heroine, and they're the ones that slowly start to turn her."

"The compromises have taken her friends. The compromises have take her lover. The compromises have taken her _eye_. The compromises have eaten away at her, slowly at first, but with each passing day they take more of her until one day… one day, they finally convince her that she deserves _more_. She deserves _better_ than what she's got. So our hero goes looking for a way to get that, and then when something literally world-shaking happens, she figures out how best she can profit from it. She just has to make the right moves to do so… and suddenly, she controls every possible technological advancement for the next hundred years, all by her lonesome."

He stopped again, and this time he smiled.

"You see where I'm going with this, don't you, Betty? Our young idealistic heroine has become a jaded, cynical, one-eyed commander, whose rash actions have threatened the safety and security of the nation that she once swore to protect. You can see why such a threat might need to be dealt with, can't you? Why very powerful men with very powerful interests are very interested in recovering that technology? You can understand why those people would be very keen for their agents to talk to our one-eyed commander about where she'd locked away the greatest treasure trove of research opportunities the world has ever seen?"

Betty felt a sudden surge of confusion. She'd been assuming all along that it had been the US Government that had taken Delta site and retrieved the Lowardian tech stored there… but if these guys were US Government, which seemed like a safe assumption based upon the questions..

 _Who the hell has it?_

Halfway through her interrogators questions, he'd started nodding, then when he noticed she hadn't joined him, a look of anger replaced the geniality that had previously masked his face.

"Betty… let me put it to you plainly. You have no way out of here. Nobody knows where you are - this isn't a CIA or FBI or DHS facility. This is a _nowhere_. This is where people just… _disappear_. For good. Right now, you've already disappeared - you have no allies left anywhere - and now that even your little side project Kim Possible has been compromised and turned…"

He smiled viciously. "Oh yes, I see that finally got a response. Here, have a look at this." He pulled a remote control out of his jacket pocket, pointed it at the rear wall, and suddenly the President's face filled it. As the speech ran, Betty's face morphed from disbelief and suspicion to shock to a weary resignation.

"So, even Kim Possible can go bad. Who'd have thought it. You _know_ what she and her family can do. Imagine that turned against us. To prevent something even worse than the Lowardians - and you _know_ that she or one of the other Alpha-level villains is capable of doing it - _we need that technology._ So I will ask you, one time only, as nicely as I can. _Where is it?_ "

 _Say_ _nothing!_ her mind demanded. _Do not let him know your suspicions about Kim!_ _Give him nothing, or you'll give him_ everything _._

When she kept her mouth closed, he sighed. "I'd have liked this to remain civilized, but it seems like you've decided to force my hand. I need those answers, Betty... so to loosen your tongue, my associate Mr Mason here is going to provide you with a little chemical assistance, and then we'll start again."

Betty almost groaned. _Crap, sodium pentothal..._ _just what I don't_ _need right now. In my weakened state, I don't know that I can fight off it's effects for long._

Mason - the bigger, more violent one, as it turned out - approached her and pushed the needle into her left arm, injecting the drug into the vein near her elbow. Almost instantly, the taste of rotting onions filled her mouth, and she gagged. A few seconds later, she felt it begin to take effect, and a dizziness that felt similar to extreme tiredness settled over her.

"Now... let's see about some answers," the new man said, but just as he approached her, the room shook noticeably, and half a second later, an alarm rang out as a second and third explosion shook them.

Despite the seriousness of her situation, Betty couldn't help but giggle thanks to the effects of the barbiturate. "That's not a good sound is it? Want to bet that... things are going to get a bit chaotic right now? I think you're about to... have problems," she slurred, and her head lolled to the side, bumping Mason.

"Shut the hell up," he growled, and backhanded her.

The new man had pulled an earpiece from his collar and inserted it into his ear, then pressed a button on his cuff. "This is Shields. Report." He listened for a second then growled angrily. "I don't give a fuck, find out what the _hell_ is.. hello? Hello?" A second later, all three men in the room winced in pain, their hands going to their ears, ripping the buds out. Betty could hear the ear piercing screech of feedback from where she was slumped against the restraints.

At the exact moment of maximum distraction, a black figure dropped through a vent from the ceiling into the room and exploded into a whirlwind of violence that was too fast for Betty to follow in her current state. In mere moments, Mason was the only conscious agent - though the figure was crouched on top of him swiftly changing that, repeatedly punching him in the face until he went limp.

The figure straightened, then started towards Betty's chair, which had somehow remained upright despite the violence that had centered on it. Betty took in the shape of the blurry figure as she approached - and it was almost certainly a she, the bodysuit didn't hide much, showing off a very feminine figure...

"Shego?" Betty guessed, then shook her head, regretting it instantly thanks to the sudden nausea that overwhelmed her briefly. "No.. you're too shmall to be... Shhhego..."

The figure pulled back from Betty, before tilting her head to one side and looking almost contemplatively down at the restrained GJ commander. The woman sighed, then tapped a button on the device on her wrist, and the hood, which Betty had assumed was fabric, but was actually some kind of membrane or nano-skin, retreated down into the collar of the suit, revealing a familiar face with a familiar hair color but an unfamiliar, shorter, haircut.

"Kimmm…" Betty slurred. "I knew… you weren't dead..."

"Dr Director, are you okay?" Kim asked, looking with concern at the bruises forming on Betty's face, and the syringes on the table beside her, then moving to break the cuffs holding her to the chair with a clench of each fist.

"S'okay, Kim.. just.. sodium pentothal... they wanted to interrogate.."

"Can you get up?" she asked.

Betty tried to lever herself to her feet, and almost made it all the way up before collapsing forward into Kim's arms. "Nope.." she groaned. "Head spinning like... three day bender.."

"I'm surprised she even knows what a three day bender feels like," Shego's voice came from Kim's wrist. "Princess, if she can't even stand, there's no way you're getting her out through the vent system."

"Hi Shego!" Betty called. "Thanks for.. coming..."

"I know that," Kim replied to Shego, and ignoring Dr Director for the moment. "Can you provide _more_ of a distraction?"

" _More?_ " Shego asked, sounding incredulous. "Did Kim Possible seriously just ask me to destroy _more_ things to provide a _bigger_ distraction?" There was a familiar _whoosh_ sound as Shego unleashed more plasma blasts at a target of some sort.

"As long as you're not hurting _people_ , I don't mind," Kim said, shooting a grin at the confused look on Dr Director's face.

"I can't promise anything about not hurting their wallets," Shego replied.

"Eh, that's good enough for now." Kim hefted Betty back up from where she'd slumped against the table, and grabbed her around the waist with one arm, throwing one of Betty's over her shoulder. "Let's hope Shego's distraction does the trick, and I can get you to the roof via the elevator."

"Wassontheroof?" Betty asked slurred as Kim balanced her weight.

"Shego's jet, of course."

"Ohhgood.. hey, I can fly it for you!"

"I _really_ don't think that's such a good idea right now," Kim muttered, ignoring the muted laughter coming from her wrist, as she pulled open the door and glanced each way down the corridor. "Hey Sapphire, can you give me audio directions? I'm a little busy with carrying Dr Director."

The same refined English voice she'd overheard in the jet overnight sounded from the Kimmunicator on her wrist. "Sure thing, darling, give me just a second.. Go left, then right, then left again, and you'll get to the elevator on this floor. This backdoor has me in deep enough that I was able to get them locked down - except for two that are about to hit your floor."

"Two?"

"Correct. I plan to send one down to the lobby, and the other with you two in it up to the roof," she replied. "Just in case anyone's still paying attention."

"With all the noise I'm making, do you _really_ think that's going to be a prob.. whoacrap," Shego finished, and then the familiar _whoosh_ of a large plasma ball being thrown came over the link. "Okay, whatever you're going to do, Kim, do it _fast_ , because the FBI's HRT team _and_ a CPD SWAT unit just showed up, and they do _not_ look happy right now. I'm afraid I might confirming that horrible reputation of yours."

"Right," Kim said, as she dragged Betty along with her. "Sapphire, we're at the elevators."

The doors to one opened, and just as she went to carry Betty inside, she spotted two agents closing on them from another side corridor, their guns drawn. Kim gave Betty a shove, wincing slightly as the woman slammed into the back wall and slumped to the ground. Kim rushed the two agents, the suit letting her rush forward fast enough to close the distance before either could react properly to her charge. Her training - and a little help from the battlesuit - let her disarm them both in seconds, and she knocked them out a second later before returning to the elevator.

"Oh for.. _wake up!"_ she shouted, and slapped Betty across the face - not hard, just enough to make the one-eyed woman stir.

"Kim? Heyyy Kim, you're not dead! Nice to see you're not dead."

"Ohhh boy," Kim groaned. "Get me to the roof now, please and thank you."

"Going up," Sapphire replied with a laugh, and the doors closed before the car lurched into motion and they ascended. "This field support thing is _exciting_ , Shego. I can't believe you never let me do this with you before."

There was a snort, but no words came across the channel until the elevator hit the top level.

"Kim, you've got more trouble," Shego called. "I've got two police choppers making a beeline for the roof. I'm pretty sure they've got thermals and might have spotted the jet's heat signature. Hold on... they're dropping troops onto the roof!"

"No big," Kim told her. As the doors opened she pulled Betty to her feet, dragged her to the stairwell, and up the stairs, where she leaned the still dozing woman against the wall this time.

"Freeze!" a voice shouted as Kim burst through the door to the rooftop, but she ignored him and slid along the gravel on the roof, thankful the suit was protecting her knees. She ended up behind an air conditioning unit and paused for a second until she heard the crunching of several feet around her, then sprung upwards, vaulting the boxy unit and landing with both feet extended to crunch into the chest of one of the agents who'd been dropped on the roof. He groaned as she rode him to the ground, his head smacking hard and his body going limp.

Kim rolled off him and sprinted around the corner, taking the next agent by surprise with a one-two punch right onto his kidneys, and he dropped with a similar groan, but as he fell he grabbed onto her collar, surprising her and dragging her down. She scorpion kicked him in the face, slamming the back of his head into the roof and knocking him out, but by the time she'd managed to get back to her feet, the last two agents had backed away from her, their guns leveled at her.

Kim held her position, arms raised.

"Kim, are you okay?" Shego asked. "Kim?"

The agents ignored the noise of Shego's voice, and shouted for Kim to get on her knees, but just as Kim was about to do burst into action, a pair of darts landed in the back of one and an electric blue light arced from them. The agent convulsed as he fell, his finger tightening on the trigger and sending several rounds zipping past Kim's shoulder. As the other turned to the new threat, Kim burst forward and grabbed the gun, crushing the trigger mechanism before he could fire.

"Ooooops, shorry," Dr Director said, emerging from the stairwell with a drunken stagger.

Kim shook her head again. "Never mind!" She knocked out the last agent, then as powerful spotlights snapped onto them again, she herded Betty up the ramp of the jet, and strapped her down in the rear hold. A moment later Kim was feeding power to the turbines and pulling them clear of the roof. Behind her, the helicopters turned to follow, but maintained a respectable distance for the moment.

"We're good Shego! You ready for your grand exit?"

"Hell yes I am, these guys have finally got their shit together," she replied. "Call the ball, Princess."

"Coming down Fourth… now."

Kim eased the jet into a turn then pushed the throttles forward enough for it to cruise rapidly over the chaotic scene on the ground, with a number of cars upturned and burning, with a green halo of plasma forming the center of a growing circle of cops and FBI agents, their guns drawn. As she did so, she dropped the active camouflage and revealed the jet, surprising a number of spectators, many of whom pointed up at the imposing green and black craft.

"This'd better work," Shego muttered, then she pulled the green and black hairdryer from her pouch and aimed it straight up at where the jet had appeared. The electromagnet head that shot out from the hairdryer slammed into the lower hull of the jet, sticking fast, and the second Kim heard the impact she slammed the throttles to the stops, pulling Shego up from the surprised police force.

"Seeya, suckers!" Shego shouted down behind her, as not a single officer managed to fire off a round.

Kim engaged the cloak as soon as she was moving, and the invisible jet screamed down the street, Shego trailing behind them, before banking hard right and pulling up sharply as a police helicopter tracked it. Kim juked left and right through the buildings of downtown Chicago, causing Shego's complaints to grow more and more numerous and expletive laden, until eventually the superior maneuverability and speed meant they had evaded the helicopters. She slowed the jet to a hover and opened the rear door, a few moments later, the familiar green and black catsuit rolled over the lip of the ramp and crawled forward into the hold.

"Okay, now I have an appreciation for what I put you and Nakasumi through a few years ago," Shego called out, clutching her stomach. "That bit was _not_ as fun as I thought it was going to be."

Kim grinned as Shego made her way forward and fell into the copilot's seat. "All good?" she asked with an innocent grin.

"Well, aside from the vomiting, I actually feel okay," Shego replied, as Kim eased the throttles forward again and they climbed away from the city. "Blowing stuff up again was _fun_."

Kim just shook her head and said nothing.

Half an hour later, as they flew east over the countryside, she made a call to Wade. "Wade, we're clear of Chicago, and headed for Washington. That information you got for me, are you sure it's accurate?"

"Washington?" Shego asked.

"It's accurate, Kim," Wade assured her.

"You were right," Kim replied to Shego, a serious look forming on her face. "We've got to stop playing defense, rushing around trying to protect what few pieces we have left on the board. It's time to go on offence, make them react to our moves instead."

"Well, I like the intent, Princess, but I'm not so sure on the execution - Washington might as well be a fortress right now, especially after..." She trailed off.

"Yes, but it's also the _last_ place they'd expect us to go," Kim replied.

"Well, maybe second last, after Antarctica, or maybe third, after the moon and Antarctica," Shego replied. Kim glowered at her, and she held her hands up defensively. "I'm just saying!"

"My _point_ is," Kim continued, ignoring Shego's ever-growing smirk. "That we have an opportunity that we should take advantage of as soon as possible."

"Oh yeah, and what's that?" Shego asked, suddenly curious.

"The head of Cerberus - the Wallace you were telling us about? Well, he's a General now, and he's in Washington - Wade found out where's he's currently based."

"I'm listening."

"He's got an office at Langley," Wade said.

"The _CIA?_ " Shego said incredulously. "You want to break into the goddamn _CIA headquarters_?"

"I'm not going to break in," Kim said. "Neither are you."

"Well then who the hell is?" Shego demanded.

"I am, aren't I?" Betty Director asked from behind them. Kim nodded as Shego looked around in surprise. Betty looked even worse than she had when Kim first found her, the bruises now extremely dark around her eye sockets and her nose, but her eyes were clear of the drugged look they'd had previously as Kim had manhandled her to the roof and into the jet. She was holding carefully onto the frame of the cockpit door to maintain her balance. "Good thing the sedative effect of sodium pentothal wears off pretty quickly - I'm gonna be woozy for a day or so, though. Thanks again for the rescue," she added.

"No big," Kim said with a grin, and Shego shook her head in despair at the catchphrase.

"You want me to help you get into Langley in return?" Betty asked. "Why?"

"It's not in return - rescuing you from this place was just the right thing to do. But we were hoping the fact that you were looking for Lowardian tech might mean you were willing to help get us into Langley to talk to General Harcourt Wallace." Kim paused. "You know the name?" she asked, when she noticed that Betty had reacted.

"He was my mentor when I was European Director of Operations, before I left to form GJ," Betty replied slowly.

"Wait, you used to be CIA?" Shego asked in surprise. "How did I not know this before?"

"I don't advertise it widely," Betty replied. "There's a reason why I formed Global Justice, why it's a multinational organisation, and why we _don't_ resort to the CIA's more.. questionable tactics."

"Oh," Shego replied. "You grew a conscience?"

"More like the CIA lost theirs," Betty sighed. "But that's the past. Why do you want to get into Wallace's office?"

"You know the team of special forces that raided the Middleton Space Center?" Kim asked. "They're known as Cerberus."

Betty nodded. "I've heard the name, but we never had enough information about them to ever actually do anything. US Black Ops is hard to penetrate at the best of times - and it got worse after our operative in Seal Team Six was discovered."

Shego shook her head. "Well, we definitely ran into them - in fact we picked up one while we were in Middleton, interrupting their attack."

"I _knew_ that was you!" Betty exclaimed. "As soon as I saw the news about a woman throwing green plasma, I figured you had something to do with it. Is your father alright?" she turned back and asked Kim.

"Yes, we were able to rescue him," she replied slowly, not willing to reveal the lengths that she'd gone to do ensure his safety - at least not yet.

"Good.. I always liked James," Betty said. "So.. you're saying Cerberus are behind that attack and you think Wallace is their boss..?"

Shego leaned over to the ECM suite and tapped through the screen until she found the recording she wanted, and played the strike teams radio chatter that they'd picked up at the time.

"Okay that's somewhat convincing. Say I buy it... if these guys do exist, that probably means _posse comitatus_ was violated... but how do you know Wallace is responsible?"

Shego shrugged. "Back when they took a shot at me, he was the asshole running it. While I worked my way through punishing them for what they did, his was the one name I got but was never able to get near enough to... I figure that he's not the kind of guy who just lets his own private little death squad go, though."

Betty thought it over for a second, then nodded. "Alright, I think I know a way we can get all three of us in, safely."

"Good," Kim said. "Wade's got a couple of motel rooms just outside Baltimore rented under false names, we'll rest up there overnight and then all three of us will pay the good General a visit first thing tomorrow morning. We'll need to be extra careful though.."

Shego looked back at her. "And Betty… you better be ready to play hardball."

Betty nodded, and headed back to grab a seat in the main cabin, mentally reviewing everything she knew about her former mentor.

* * *

 **A/N:** Well, there we go. Betty, Shego and Kim are off to cause some havoc in Washington! As I said, roughly 4 chapters to go.

Apologies for any sloppy grammar/typos in the last half, it's well after midnight and I'm only working on this because the next door neighbors are throwing an extremely loud party... if I can't sleep, might as well publish, right? See you soon for more Shadow Plays!


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note** : I'm back, again, with more Shadow Plays! I'm not going to lie, I don't like little bits of this chapter, but I couldn't make them work any better, despite a few runs through with various changes. On the flip side, there are some parts of this chapter that I am beyond happy with how they eventually turned out (gee, I wonder if you can tell which?) I hope you guys like them too.

 **Standard Disclaimer:** The various characters from the Kim Possible series are all owned by Disney. All registered trade names property of their respective owners. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

* * *

 **Kim Possible: Shadow Plays**

 **Chapter Fourteen**

 **KP KP KP**

Harcourt Wallace the Third stormed towards his office in the New Headquarters Building with a scowl firmly entrenched on his face. Around him, various junior staffers dove out of his way to avoid a collision as he plowed through the corridor like a runaway freight train, but he paid no attention to them.

Wallace had just been arrived back at the CIA Headquarters facility in Langley after an early morning trip to the White House, having being summoned to the Oval Office to give the President a briefing - something that would have normally been handled by his superior, but since the DCI had very conveniently come down with the flu, it had fallen to him to pitch the case for enhanced action against Possible and her allies… and he'd been frustrated at every turn, despite the overwhelming evidence that he had prepared to support his plans for action.

He _had_ hoped that the deaths of Senators Willard and Roberts would finally convince the President to set the hounds on Possible, her new friends the Seniors, and the last of Global Justice's American facilities, but instead he'd been forced to handle repeated questions about the actions of the 'unknown force' reported to have struck at Middleton and been repelled by the security forces there - with some external help.

He was for once grateful that the number of people with knowledge of Cerberus outside the mercenary force was less than half a dozen people. If it were widely known that he was running his own off-the-books force - had been running it since starting it in the late 70's - he'd be in a world of trouble. As it was, he hadn't known that the President was on friendly terms with several staff at the Middleton Science Center including, much to Wallace's surprise, one James Possible. That little intelligence breakdown had nearly been catastrophic.

 _Probably a good thing that we didn't kill him then,_ he reflected grimly. _Though he would have made an interesting bargaining chip._

For a second he imagined the possibilities, then dismissed them. His troops had failed at the MSC, being forced to retreat after Shego and another unidentified person had interfered. _I'd definitely like to nail Shego and the other son of a bitch who killed my_ _men._

Wallace was deeply unimpressed at the lack of attention the President was showing towards the situation with, despite his speech to the nation yesterday. His Chief of Staff, a slimy toad Wallace hated on sight had suggested the message tone be one of confidence and reassurance, but not to actually take any steps for the meantime, and despite the evidence that Wallace had presented, the President seemed to be almost entirely focused on Kim Possible - the idiot actually seemed to think her defection might hurt his reelection chances.

Wallace slammed open the door of his outer office and made for his inner sanctum, when he happened to look over at his secretary's desk and see an unfamiliar face standing to greet him.

"Good morning, General!" the young woman said, and he stopped in surprise.

"Who the hell are you?" he barked.

"I'm Corporal Winston, sir. Your usual secretary called in sick today, HR sent me instead."

Wallace frowned at the blonde, trying to figure out why she seemed so familiar, then shook his head and dismissed it. "Fine, make sure my coffee is ready in five, I'm going to freshen up in my bathroom. Oh, and no visitors for the next hour, I have sensitive matters to attend to and I don't want to be interrupted."

"Certainly, sir," the corporal replied, saluting sloppily.

On any other day, Wallace would have given her a dressing down, but he needed to get on top of the situation before anything else went wrong. The fact that Shego was now being reported by the media as having been involved at the Middleton Science Center - credited with rescuing several scientists, no less - was a complication he didn't need. On top of that, given her theatrics last night in Chicago, it was clear she was getting much more involved than he had ever anticipated.

The FBI were being cagey about what had happened, but he was certain that they'd let Betty Director slip through their fingers - and Shego clearly had help on the breakout. If she was bringing outside actors into the game with her, heaven help them - she'd already made her dislike of Cerberus very clear in the past and she had multiple contacts among the supervillain community.

He dumped his notes and folders on his desk then stepped into the small private bathroom off the side of his main office to wash his face, then as he dried off, he looked in the mirror and sighed.

"Maybe I'm getting too old for this shit," he said to his reflection, and sighed.

He stepped back through the door to his office and stopped dead in surprise.

"I don't know about too old, exactly, Harcourt, but you've clearly lost your loyalty to the country. I imagine that can be somewhat prematurely aging," Elizabeth Director said.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he thundered. He reached down for the sidearm he kept in his hip holster out of habit, but before he could grab it his wrist was locked in a vice-like grip and another voice came from behind him, a voice he instantly recognized.

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you," Shego said smoothly.

"Shego?" Wallace squeaked. "Well... fuck."

"Eloquent, isn't he?" Shego asked Betty sardonically.

"Harcourt, sit down."

"Why the hell should I?" he growled.

"Because if you don't, I'm going to make your day _extremely_ unpleasant, instead of just mildly uncomfortable," Shego said, gripping his wrist tighter and igniting her plasma.

Before he realized what was happening, he'd been maneuvered into a seat across from Dr Director, who was sitting in his chair, her feet up on his desk. As he rubbed at the warmth in his wrist where the heat had started to burn slightly, he scowled at the one-eyed woman opposite.

"I suppose you're going to kill me too, like you killed Willard and Roberts?"

Betty shook her head. "I had nothing to do with the deaths of either of the Senators, Harcourt, and I'm kind of hurt that you would think that I did."

"Why wouldn't I? After all, you eliminated Kim Possible when she proved inconvenient for you, didn't you?"

"About that," a third voice said, and Wallace turned to see the blonde corporal step into the office and close the door softly behind her before she pulled off what turned out to be a blonde wig. "She _really_ didn't kill me, General, and the people who wanted you to think she did are using you."

Wallace's jaw dropped as he finally recognized the face, having been put off by the hair. "This… this is impossible!" he said.

"You know, I get that a lot, it must be the name," Kim replied, winking at Shego, who merely sighed. "You see, General, when Senator Roberts first came to you with evidence that Global Justice was planning something, you didn't believe him, did you?"

After a few moments, Wallace shook his head slowly. "I had my doubts, yes. But then when Roberts went public with Willard and McCallum and.. _you.._ and then GJ killed you.."

" _Not_ me," Kim reminded him. "A double - and a very good one - who was killed to convince you, and the public at large, that Global Justice really was the threat that Roberts was making them out to be."

"Why?" he asked.

"Because they wanted GJ on the run - specifically, me, on the run," Betty told him. As he turned to look at her, her eyes narrowed. "They found out about the Lowardian salvage storehouse in Canada, somehow. Less than a day after the fake Kim was assassinated, a coordinated strike force from somewhere hit Delta site and removed all of the salvage that had been stored there."

Wallace let out a breath slowly, his eyes widening at the implications.

Betty nodded. "I'm not surprised _you_ knew."

"I'm the Deputy Director of the CIA, Elizabeth, of course I knew about your little Delta site. The President asked my advice when you first organised the secret Security Council resolution," Wallace admitted. "I told him that I didn't agree at all, but fighting it would have been a battle we couldn't win and would have cost us more in the long term than playing along."

He pointed an accusatory finger at Betty.

"And now it turns out I was right all along! You let someone just waltz in and take the most dangerous technology on the planet out from under you? That tech should never have been in anyone's hands other than ours, and you know it!"

Betty shot to her feet, looming over the desk.

"Don't you think I know that I'm at fault?" she shouted. "Don't you think I know that when I took the responsibility for storing it, I took the responsibility for keeping it out of the wrong hands? Why do you think I kept it out of _yours_ , Harcourt?"

Wallace flinched at the anger in her voice, but regained his poise half a second later.

"So what are you doing about it?"

"I'm running for my life, Harcourt, because you idiots think I _killed Kim Possible_."

The supposedly dead person interjected herself between the two of them.

"ENOUGH!" she shouted, loud enough to surprise both Dr Director and General Wallace, and the glare that backed it up had the pair of them falling back into their respective chairs.

"General Wallace, we know that you run Cerberus. Shego's shown me the evidence she collected in the aftermath of your attempted assassination of _her_. We know it was your troops at the Middleton Science Center… what we don't know is why. Why did your people hit the MSC?"

General Wallace sighed. "We went after MSC because it was the secondary target… by the time we got our asses moving on Delta site, you'd been and gone, and there was nothing left but bloodstains."

"So you did decide to take advantage!" Betty accused. "The _exact moment_ I was out of the picture, you decided to send Cerberus to retrieve the salvage? You seriously expect me to believe that you didn't plan this with other people?"

"No!" Wallace replied. "It was suggested that we send Cerberus to prevent anyone else gaining control over that dangerous technology, after it became clear you were no longer capable of protecting it."

Kim watched as Dr Director's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Suggested? _By who_?"

"The President felt-" Wallace lied.

"Do you seriously expect me to believe that?" Betty exclaimed. "How dumb do you think I am, Harcourt? Give me a break, the _President_ authorized a military intervention into a friendly allied nation to retrieve technology explicitly quarantined by the Security Council? Bullshit. He doesn't even know about Cerberus, does he?"

Shego's hands fluttered green again, and her smile widened.

"Alright, alright! Fine!" Wallace spat. "I was.. informed.. of an upcoming opportunity to retrieve the Lowardian salvage with no risk of anyone discovering it was us. Roberts.. before he went public, he contacted me and implied that GJ would be totally out of the picture, and the president would support our actions after fact if we presented it as a _fait accompli_. I just had no idea it involved killing _her_." He nodded at Kim.

"And you had no idea that the base would be assaulted and mind control chips used on my injured soldiers, leaving them behind as a trap to get me killed?" she asked softly. "I'm supposed to believe that wasn't you? Stop lying to me, Harcourt!"

"What are you talking about?"

Dr Director stood so fast the chair rolled backwards and slammed into the wall behind her. "You know _exactly_ what I'm talking about. I don't believe that it wasn't your men in Canada, it is _exactly_ their style. You _know_ what your men did there, you _know_ what they did in Middleton. You can play stupid for as long as you like, but I have neither the time nor the patience required. Shego, would you be kind enough to give him an incentive to be more honest?" She turned away and looked out the window.

Kim looked in alarm from Shego to Dr Director, then back again.

"With pleasure," Shego drawled, lighting her hands again and placing them on top of Wallace's head, as he started to get up. "Bup bup bup, sit back down or the burning starts again. Do you know how hot I have to go before your skull melts?" she asked softly, her lips twisting into an evil smile.

Wallace's head shook slightly.

"Neither do I, want to find out?"

He shook his head again.

"Good boy," she said, dropping her hands and shooting a quick glance at Kim, who averted her eyes quickly.

Dr Director spoke again, still looking out the windows over the Langley parking lot. "I lost nearly a hundred good men and women at Delta site, Harcourt. Men and woman I trusted to keep the most dangerous technology on the planet safe, and who trusted me in turn to keep _them_ safe, safe from the likes of _you_. I failed them, and I have spent at least some part of every day trying work out how to write the messages to their families, how to explain why their mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters won't be coming home ever again.."

She finally turned back to stare at the General. "What am I going to tell them? Most of them were American citizens - am I going to tell them that their country betrayed the ideals of justice and freedom that they stood for?"

"I didn't know about any mind control, I swear," Wallace told her. "And I told you my troops were told to hold back, we ended up arriving thirty minutes after your boy go you out in that jet. Everything after that… I didn't know. There wasn't any sign left of any active troops, the place was a ghost town."

Dr Director sighed, then pulled the chair back into place slowly, watching Harcourt like a hawk, as he watched her back. She eventually lowered herself into his seat again, and leaned on the desk.

"Say I believe you.. what about at least some of your troops being Henches, current or former. Have you really fallen so low that you're hiring from Jack Hench these days?"

"We had to," Wallace sighed, then jerked his head in Shego's direction. "After _her_ display a few years ago, people started dropping out. Every so often, another one does. Her little vendetta against us started convincing people to quit... we had to replace the stock, and finding appropriately morally flexible troops without families for her to target started becoming difficult."

"Imagine my disappointment," Shego muttered, pointedly ignoring Kim's horrified look. "So, you got Jack's best, or rather, his worst? How much did it cost you?"

"He came to us not long after Nairobi, when you were in the middle of your little revenge kick, and offered a deal - he'd provide trained troops to supplement our forces, if he was able to use them on occasion to support his, uhh, other business interests - and if we ever encountered you again, we put you down _hard_."

"I'd like to have seen you _try_ ," Shego growled, clenching her hands into fists and lighting the plasma up again. "I already proved that your men aren't worth shit at the MSC, want to go another round?"

"Shego, please... let it go," Kim muttered.

"Fine."

"I can't believe this.. you built your own little private mercenary force, you went after civilian targets, and then after all that, you let it turn into disposable cannon fodder for _Jack Hench_?" Betty asked incredulously. "What happened, Harcourt? What happened to my mentor, the man who talked to me about honor and duty and integrity and loyalty?"

"He realized it was all meaningless," Wallace said quietly. "He got passed over for too many promotions, he got cut out of the loop, and he got pushed towards an early retirement. I gave _everything_ to this country, including my wife and my _son_ , and what has it given me? A push out the door like a used up has been.. so yeah, I saw an opportunity to improve my worth, and I took it, and it got me to the DCI's office. Don't you dare judge me, Elizabeth, your hands are at _least_ as dirty as mine. How many compromises did you have to make to get GJ off the ground? How many times did you look the other way in Europe or Africa or the Middle East or South East Asia so you could get enough votes in the Security Council to get your goddamned agency going?"

Dr Director looked away again, the accusations echoing words she'd heard just yesterday in Chicago. "Too many," she eventually muttered, before turning back sharply. "But _I_ never betrayed my country or my troops, _I_ never gave orders to murder innocent civilians when they stood in my way, and _I_ didn't condone a plot to assassinate a national hero. You're not the man I thought you were any more, Harcourt."

Wallace said nothing, his head down, staring at his lap.

"Just tell me one more thing. Where was the salvage from Delta and Middleton going to go?"

Wallace shook his head, until Shego lit her hands again, holding them on either side of his head and slowly increasing the heat of the plasma. "Where was it going, Wallace?" she asked. " _Don't_ make Bets ask you again."

"Fuck you!" he spat, squirming in his seat, trying to get away from the heat as the first wisps of smoke came from the hairs closest to the plasma. "Sims over at DARPA wanted it. I found out by backtracking Roberts' calls that he was the prick who suggested a plan to secure it in the first place."

"Sims? As in General Sims? He's at DARPA now?"

Wallace nodded.

"That actually sort of makes sense, and lines up with our other information," Betty muttered. "Okay ladies, we're leaving. I think I know where we're headed next."

She stepped around the desk, then leaned into whisper into Wallace's ear. "We were never here," she told him. "Don't make me regret valuing the friendship we used to have." She walked away from him, Kim following her, casting a quiet glance back at Shego.

"Hey Wallace," Shego said quietly after Kim and Dr Director had left the office. "Since I gave Betty a recording of your goons attempting to murder Kimmie's father, it's been safely stored, ready to go out to the media and a bunch of different civil liberty groups should anything happen to _any_ of us. I'm sure you realize how precarious your position is right now, and how important it is that we stay safe and _nobody knows we visited._ But that's not the only incentive you have to keep this little chat we've had today quiet.. you _really_ don't want me to have to come back and use my hands to turn you into Ghost Rider - because if I have to do that, I won't just stop at you.. I'll end your entire family if you make me angry. Understand?" She emphasized her last statement by grasping both sides of his head and digging her claws in just tightly enough at his temple and cheeks to draw blood.

Wallace nodded dumbly.

"Good. _Pleasure_ doing business with you," Shego said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She dropped her hands and sauntered out of the office and down the corridor towards the rooftop access door that had been used as their access point, thanks to Betty's intimate knowledge of the building.

On the roof Shego caught up with Kim and Dr Director as they waited for her at the foot of the ramp to the cloaked jet. "That was actually somewhat easier than I expected," she said, giving Kim a sideways look as the younger woman stared at her. "What?"

"I'm kinda starting to realize the, uh, how did you say it.. 'pointed demonstration' that you gave Cerberus after they tried to kill you was a little bit more elaborate than you originally implied."

Betty led them up the ramp and strapped into her seat in the main cabin without a word, but the brow above her good eye rose significantly. She had known some of the details regarding an incident in Nairobi, but discovering that it had been Shego at the center of it had closed a few holes in the story.

"Yeah, well, I was _really_ pissed off," Shego muttered. "Remember the whole 'killed lots of innocent bystanders' bit?" she asked.

"I didn't say that was necessarily a _bad_ thing," Kim clarified quickly. "Just.. you never did anything by halves, previously, and it was a little scary to see that Shego make an appearance. I haven't seen her for a while."

Shego sighed as she settled into the pilot's seat and powered the jet up, Kim settling in beside her. "Kim.. that part of me, the… the desire to hurt people, to flare up and just let the world burn and laugh while doing it? That's never going away. It's too much a part of me, has been for too long. Six months with Little Miss Goody Two-Shoes isn't going to change my basic personality. I am not a caterpillar, I'm not going to spin a cocoon and emerge a butterfly."

"I know that," Kim whispered. "I just.. I like the Shego who spent six months looking after me."

Shego nodded as she lifted off and aimed them westwards, feeding power into the turbines. There was silence for a while, then Kim added something under her breath that Shego only barely caught. "That Shego saved my life."

"This Shego would do anything to protect you. The other Shego… she'd probably burn the world down if something happened to you, Princess," she replied equally quietly, and Kim's mouth formed a little 'o' in surprise at the declaration.

As the jet cruised west over the US, Shego relaxed enough to take a short nap while Kim flew. When she woke, she found Kim in a quiet but serious sounding discussion with Wade via her Kimmunicator, but Shego noted approvingly that most her attention seemed to still be on the instruments in front of her and the airspace around them.

"How long?" she was asking, and Wade took a moment to respond.

"Six months at least," he said softly. "Do you remember that analysis tool I helped put together for the FBI last year?"

"The one that secured the RICO charges against the Italians in New York and the Russians in Philly?" Kim asked.

"Yeah, that one," he said. "Well the FBI wouldn't give me approval to re-task it against a few shell companies that I know Jack has used in the past... so I dusted off the first prototype that I kept, you know, just in case. It's not as fast as the FBI's, nor do I have the same amount of resources as they do to throw at it, but.."

"What's been going on for six months?" Shego asked, yawning.

"Jack's been funneling money around various shells," Kim replied. "Wade has a lead on at least some of the money being used to outfit his own troops - and Cerberus."

Shego looked impressed. "How? Jack's utterly paranoid about that sort of thing, his books are scrubbed cleaner than Kimmie's image."

Shaking his head and trying not to laugh, Wade replied. "It's kind of the opposite of how things usually work," he said. "You know how when you shine a light on something it casts a shadow, so even if you can't see the object, you can guess at what it is by the shadow... well, my software was designed to do something similar but with money. Instead of looking directly at Jack's accounts, I'm looking at the patterns, working out who's receiving money, and then by who else is moving goods, what they're doing with it, and extrapolating backwards."

"And from that you can tell that Jack's been busy for six months?" Shego asked.

"From that I can tell that certain of his favored suppliers got super busy about six months ago, yeah. I'm not sure if he just figured Kim was gone and never coming back.." he trailed off as Kim blushed and looked away, until Shego's hand reached out and patted her gently on the shoulder.

"Or if it was an opportunity that came up?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"We really need to pay a visit to Jackie-boy," Shego muttered.

"Priorities," Kim reminded her. "We need to secure the Lowardian salvage, and if Wallace is right and Sims has it, we need to do it fast before he does something terrible with it."

"Actually that reminds me, the way you reacted to his name before... you know this Sims guy?" Shego asked.

"I do," Kim replied. "You don't remember him?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Should I?"

"Area 51," Kim said, and Shego's eyes opened wide.

"Oh."

"Commodore Puddles?" Kim said, and Shego groaned.

"Oh no."

"The shrink ray and Drakken's little trip.."

Shego's hand across Kim's mouth cut her reminiscing short, prompting sniggers from both her and Wade.

"We can stop remembering that now, thank you very much," Shego growled, and Kim nodded. "So.. if he was in charge of Area 51, why are we surprised that he's been hot to get his hands of the Lowardian salvage?"

"Actually, that's a pretty good point," Kim said. "If Area 51 was actually studying previous examples of extraterrestrial technology, it makes sense that they would have wanted in on the Lowardian gear."

"The problem, Kim, is that Area 51 was focused entirely on weaponizing any technology it recovered," Dr Director said, stepping into the cockpit and grabbing the headrest of each of the front seats to balance against the mild turbulence. "For example, the blue lasers that are being tested in combat units now were developed at Area 51, as were the next generation smart munitions."

"And you figured that the Lowardian tech was too risky to let them play with?"

"Exactly. It's my belief, with the advantage of hindsight and a little bit of guesswork, that the aliens who crash landed in Roswell in 1947 were fleeing a Lowardian assault - whether on a nearby colony or their home planet I can't know for sure.. but some of my analysts theorized that it was the repair and reuse of the craft at Area 51 over the past decade that potentially signaled to the Lowardians where those first extraterrestrials had fled."

Shego blinked in surprise. "That.. actually makes a scary amount of sense."

"So Warmonga was really just a scout looking for the little grey men but when she encountered Drakken, she was fooled into thinking him their mythical Great Blue.."

Shego loosed an eloquent snort at that.

"Go with it," Kim said, grinning. "She left after the tweebs pulled their little trick, but if she picked up the signature of the alien tech at Area 51 on her way out, she might have linked up with Warhok and returned to hunt them down, only to run into us again."

Betty nodded. "It fits most of the available knowledge that we have, given that our attempts to communicate with the Greys were extremely limited and mostly unsuccessful."

"Okay, so now that we know why the Lowardians came here, how does it help us?" Shego asked.

"Not a great deal," Dr Director admitted. "But there is one other motive for the plan to unbalance GJ and attack Delta site that I can ascribe to Sims."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes, we gave you and Drakken pardons."

"You wanna run that by me again?" Shego asked.

"After your attack on Area 51, Sims was.. uh.. disciplined."

"But we beat - uh, that is to say - Shego and Drakken were unsuccessful in acquiring any technology there. _Thanks to giant Rufus._ " Kim added in a rush, and Shego scowled.

"Yes, but you were allowed into the most secret facility in the US without any proper clearance, and even though you were able to prevent any theft occurring, your very presence was deemed.. undesirable.. by the powers that be. Sims was reprimanded and busted down to Captain, and assigned to an old weather station in Alaska for a couple of years."

"Oh boy," Shego muttered. "Ohhhh boy."

"So you can see why he might have a bit of a grudge against not only Shego and Drakken, but yourself and Ron," Dr Director explained.

"Why not tell us this before?" Shego asked.

"Because the connection only became clear when Wallace identified him by name," she replied.

Kim's eyes narrowed. "Right. So this DARPA base, you know where it is?" she asked.

"Yes, I believe I do.. it's in Colorado."

Shego sighed. "Ah _crap_. Colorado Springs, specifically?"

"Yes."

"Damnit."

Kim smiled. "Wade, do you have floor plans for Cheyenne Mountain. It's been a fair few years since I toured there.. don't think my memory is that good."

"I'll see what I can dig up, Kim," he replied before disconnecting.

"You do know that place is a fortress, right?" Shego asked rhetorically.

"Sure, but it's no more secure than any lair," Kim replied with a smile. "Getting in will be no big."

"I have an idea that might help," Dr Director said. "If you trust me."

Shego looked at her, but Betty wasn't giving anything away. "What the hell, we've come this far together."

"So glad you see it that way," she responded dryly, before stepping back into the rear section as she pulled an encrypted phone out.

Shego and Kim looked at each other and shrugged as they heard her start talking.

"Yes, it's me. Remember that request you made a few weeks back.. I think I've got the opportunity for you to make an impact.. Yes, you can bring them in, but I need to know I can trust them all with a massive secret.."

 **KP KP KP**

Though they'd tried to brainstorm various plans for breaking into one of the most secure facilities in the Continental US through the rest of their flight westwards, they hadn't come up with anything satisfactory by the time Shego had found a secure enough location to land the VTOL, and Dr Director had refused to explain her idea any further, or the identity of the person she'd called, leaving Kim and Shego both feeling moody and irritable.

The motel rooms they'd booked in the small town in the middle of nowhere had incredibly thin walls, so when Shego and Kim had gotten into an argument about nothing at one in the morning, Betty had ended up pounding on the wall suggesting they find another way of letting off steam, and had then proceeded to offer several options.

Both had blushed when they had realized one of the suggestions implied Betty thought their relationship was far from platonic, but rather than acceding to _that_ particular suggestion they had instead slipped into their gear and gone for a walk into the canyons that lay beyond the south end of the tiny town.

After an hour or so of walking, by silent agreement they decided they were far enough away, and with the full moon high in the sky, the small bowl shaped depression they were in was lit almost like a coliseum.

Shego started having second thoughts about the idea just before Kim's fist swung at her jaw, and she blocked more out of reflex than conscious action, her counter punch low and hard but badly timed, letting Kim easily grab the arm, roll over it and then spin into a hard throw that sent Shego flying forward.

She turned her flight into a tumble and then a handspring before planting her feet and turning to find Kim holding position a few meters away.

"Sloppy," Kim chided. "We agreed that we needed to let off steam, and this is better than the.. uh.. other option Betty suggested."

Shego blushed again briefly, then sighed. "I just.. don't want to hurt you more than you already are, Princess."

Kim's eyes narrowed. "Then that's the secondary purpose of this - to show you that I am fine, that I can handle this. Honestly, I think... I think it was mostly mental readiness for the past two months." At Shego's disbelieving look, she relented slightly. "Alright fine, I'm not 100%, I get it, but if I can handle you at 80%, don't you think I can handle pretty much everybody else at 150%?"

Shego couldn't really dispute that - at their very best each of them had been in a class all of their own, though her plasma powers had contributed to a level of sloppiness in technique that she was fairly certain (with the benefit of hindsight and a lot more self-honesty than she would usually apply) had led to her various losses to the redhead over the years.

Kim waited for Shego, ready in a modified version of her usual power pose, arms ready but legs relaxed, showing no fear, no anxiety, nothing but.. a small grin of anticipation.

Shego licked her lips slowly, the moisture evaporating quickly in the dry, cool night.

"Okay Princess, have you ever danced.. with the devil in the pale moonlight?" she asked, grinning.

Shego charged forward and threw a hard punch which Kim swayed away from, pushing the outside of her arm, then yelping and ducking beneath the spinning back fist Shego used her momentum to throw. Kim sprang vertically up from her crouch, two kicks being batted away by Shego's hands, then Kim was tumbling backwards as Shego advanced, her punches being ducked and Kim's return kicks being parried. A moment later Kim arched her back as she tumbled and turned it into a round off, landing with both feet before kicking up into a double back flip.

Shego's mouth dropped open as Kim rotated until she landed with both feet together and bent only slightly at the knees to absorb the impact.

"Spankin!" she declared, then before Shego could recover fully from her shock, was rushing forward again to throw a right cross that Shego only barely blocked, followed by an uppercut that tagged Shego in the rib cage hard, sending the wind rushing out of her, and she sank to her knees.

By the time she'd recovered, Kim had backed away and was dancing on the balls of her feet, an almost hypnotizing slow back and forward bounce that was instantly recognizable to anyone who had ever seen a Bruce Lee movie.

"C'mon Shego, you gotta be better than that!" Kim taunted, extending one hand and giving her a 'Bring it!' gesture.

"Oh Princess, don't you worry your pretty little head. I'm just getting warmed up," Shego declared, rising and brushing the dirt from her knees, then summoning her plasma. "Since you seem to be far closer to 100% than I would have admitted, lets see how you do against- eep!"

Shego's threat was cut off by an undignified squeak as Kim burst forward in a blur of speed, the battlesuit she was wearing suddenly glowing blue around the legs, and Kim was on her in a split second, well before she could react, slamming into a full body clinch then somehow, impossibly, rotating as her momentum was transferred to Shego and the ex-villain found herself rolling through the air to slam hard on the dirt, one of her arms being wrenched nearly out of it's socket.

"What the hell was that?" she panted as she levered herself up from the ground. _And why am I getting my ass kicked_?

Kim blushed a little. "Well.. while I was gone, Wade got a bit.. creative. With the battlesuit I mean. This is the thirteenth generation, I think? He's finally agreed to unlock the full capabilities for me."

Shego's mouth dropped open. "There are _twelve_ previous versions of this running around the place?" she asked incredulously.

"Oh no, some of them had some pretty, uh, spectacular failures," Kim said.

Shego blinked, and let the plasma fade. _That_ required some extra explanation. "Define both _spectacular_ and _failure_."

Wade's voice suddenly emanated from the Kimmunicator built into the wrist of the suit. "Well, I didn't have Kim to test them on, so I recruited her brothers."

Shego suppressed the shudder that involuntarily ran down her back at the mention of the Possible twin terrors.

"Anyway, when they were testing the kinetic enhancers on one prototype, the whole suit ripped itself to pieces while Jim was running right down the middle of the Middleton Mall, and he'd decided not to wear anything underneath it, said it caused.. uh.. 'too much additional friction..'"

Shego burst into laughter, and Kim grinned - hearing that story for the second time was just as funny, and she suspected it would continue to be funny for a long time to come.

"So.. exactly how long has this suit been ready?" Shego asked.

"About eight weeks after you found her," Wade told her. "I just didn't deliver it until Kim decided she had to intervene in Middleton - of course, if she'd waited and let me explain the features she wouldn't have had so much trouble there, or on Senior's island."

"Hey, I handled myself okay," Kim complained. "And I'm handling Shego just fine right now."

Shego's eyebrow quirked. "How many more tricks does that thing have?" she asked.

"Not telling," Kim told her, grinning wickedly, and she slapped the button that disconnected the Kimmunicator before Wade could reply.

Shego grinned right back. "Guess I'll just have to find out the hard way," she said, relighting her hands and diving at Kim.

An hour later, the pair of them collapsed side by side, only after finishing their sparring by spending a solid five minutes toe to toe, using only their arms trying to find an opening through the other's defense.

"Okay Princess, I'm not too proud to admit it. You were right, you _can_ handle me at pretty much one hundred percent, so you can probably handle pretty much anyone else at their best," Shego panted, amazed at how out of breath she was. _I haven't worked that hard in.. a lot more than a year._

" _Told_ you so," Kim replied, the grin on her face going unseen by her sparring partner but unmissable in the cheeky tone.

As they cooled down and regained their breath, they continued to stare at the sky above them, the Milky Way clearly visible as a wide swathe of light.

"My Dad used to take me out to Mount Middleton to stargaze just like this," Kim said eventually. "We had to go a fair way to get away from the light pollution in the Tri-City area, but it was always worth the trip."

Shego said nothing as Kim reminisced, then nearly jumped out of her skin when a hand crept into hers and squeezed gently.

"He'd point out all the famous stars, he taught me the constellations, and he told me all the famous myths and stories that inspired them." Kim paused, smiling again. "And then he'd say 'But remember, Kimmie-cub, despite all the stories, we can't really know for sure what's actually out there.. but I sure would love to find out'."

Now Shego did smile. "He didn't exactly get what he was expecting, did he?"

"Not really, no. But I talked to Wade, and the work he's doing at MSC with the Lowardian stuff… Shego.. they really might crack the barrier, build a genuinely viable faster than light drive. We could…" She trailed off, and sighed. "We could probably go out there and stuff up new worlds like we already stuffed up here."

Shego snorted. "Hey, which of us two is supposed to be the world weary cynic?" Kim laughed, and Shego rolled over onto one shoulder to look at her. "You've thought about going out there, haven't you?"

Kim looked away for a moment, then back up at the stars, and Shego could tell by the color change on her cheeks that she was blushing again.

"Yeah, sometimes," Kim replied eventually. "I mean.. the first person to see the Galilean moons of Jupiter up close? To be the first to walk on the ice of Europa, or see the volcanoes of Io? To fly in the rings of Saturn? To go further, to go to Pluto and then beyond?" She sighed. "But it'll never happen, not for me anyway."

"Why not?" Shego asked curiously. "If I recall correctly, you've already been into space twice. No, three times. Sounds like a pretty good resume to me."

Kim looked over at her and nodded. "Yeah, but none of those times exactly worked out amazingly well. Let's just say that NASA aren't my biggest fans after we brought the Lowardian cruiser crashing down, no matter that it was probably the only way to save the world."

Shego shrugged. "Their loss. I think you'd be amazing," she said without thinking.

Kim's blush deepened. "You.. you really mean that?"

Shego paused, reconsidered what she'd said, then nodded. "Yeah. Yeah I do, Kimmie."

Kim also rolled up on her shoulder and suddenly the two of them were lying face to face, only inches apart, and while the night was definitely cooling them off, Shego suddenly realized she could _feel_ the warmth coming off of Kim's body.

 _Uh-oh_ , some small part of her mind protested, as Kim closed her eyes and leaned in, then that part of her mind went as blank as the rest of it as their lips touched, hesitantly at first, but then more firmly. There was a slight shuffle from one or both of them, and then Kim's arm was around her back and her arm was around Kim's back and their bodies were pressed together everywhere possible, and the melding of their mouths was like nothing Shego had ever experienced before, like little fireworks going off all over her lips.

Kim let out a little moan that rumbled through her and the vibrations that transferred through her into Shego set off more fireworks through her whole body, and all of a sudden she was on fire - literally, as her hands ignited in green plasma, but there was almost no heat, just the barest hint of warmth, as she ran one down Kim's back, eliciting another rolling moan that rumbled through both of them, this time like an earthquake in slow motion that was turning her entire body into jelly.

Then suddenly Shego pulled back, and as their bodies separated slightly, there was a disappointed groan from Kim.

"Hey… hey!" Shego growled as Kim tried to squirm back into contact.

Kim's eyes snapped open, and like the switch had been thrown, she blushed furiously and pulled away, rolling to lie on her back again, her breathing rapid again for an entirely different reason than it had been ten minutes earlier.

Shego watched as Kim blinked a few times, and then her eyes were inexorably drawn to the rise and fall of her chest, the battlesuit not doing a lot to disguise the shape of a body that had finally started to fill back out again from its near-skeletal worst.

 _Gah!_ she thought as she realized she was staring at Kim's breasts.

"Sorry," Kim apologized at the same moment, and then scowled as Shego burst into laughter. "What's so funny?"

"You're going to apologize for.. that?" Shego said through her laughter. Kim said nothing in reply, and Shego reached out and took the hand nearest to her again. "Look.. it takes two to tango, Princess, especially _horizontally_. I'm not going to deny that I enjoyed the hell out of what just happened, because it's painfully obvious, but.. uh.. there's.. extenuating circumstances."

"Like what?" Kim asked, still staring at the sky.

"Well for starters, the fact that it seems like half the world wants to kill one of us, the other half of it wants to kill the other... and that's not even considering our... uhhh... history." Shego pointed out. "I mean, we're not exactly operating under _normal_ conditions here."

Kim looked over at her. "Would we be here, together, if we were?"

"Ah, no," Shego replied. "Most certainly not."

"Then fuck normal conditions," Kim said vehemently, and Shego's mouth dropped open again, not just at the expletive but the implication behind the statement. She started to protest, but Kim cut her off.

"No, don't try to rationalize this," Kim said fiercely. "I.. for a long time, I've felt like I've been alone in a lot of ways - in some ways I think I maybe started feeling it even before... Tokyo - but the last two weeks have shown me just how wrong I was. I realized I've never been alone, since the moment you found me, because _you've_ been here. You've been here ever since you found me in Sydney, and you've stood by me, through every tantrum, through every step of rehab, through every one of my worst moments, you've been there for me. You helped give me back the life I was throwing away."

"Kim, I…"

"You're going to tell me that relationships formed in stressful situations like this tend to go horribly wrong rapidly, aren't you? Do I have to break out the quote from Speed?" Shego blinked, her mind not making the connection, until Kim whispered "'We'll have to base it on sex then'", and her eyes boggled.

"What..."

"So okay, this maybe _is_ so the drama," Kim said, cutting her off again. "We've accepted that, or at least, _I_ have. Sure, we're on the run, the world used to think I was dead and now thinks I'm public enemy numero uno, Dr Director is out of GJ, the Seniors might be our only other allies, _and_ somebody stole a whole crapload of dangerous Lowardian technology and is planning to do who knows what with it, but the one - the one - good thing that I've got going for me right now.. is _you_."

Shego blinked as Kim sat up, and stretched, then pulled her legs up to hug them and looked down at her, and she was surprised to find tears in those piercing olive green eyes.

"So yeah.. maybe I want to.. find out if I could fall in love with you, because I think part of me has felt for a while now, without me realizing it, like I was already part way there..."

Kim finished in a hurried whisper that finished with her drawing her arms around herself and hugging tightly, shivering slightly in the cool desert night, tears forming in her eyes and starting to roll down her cheeks. Without conscious thought, Shego was suddenly up, then back down again, sliding in behind her and wrapping her own arms around the smaller woman, her hands lighting up with the same warmth as before, but then the green plasma slowly spread up her arms until her entire upper torso was alight and warming both of them.

"What…?" Kim asked.

"Shhh," Shego said, and held her tightly, as Kim broke down and sobbed gently.

It took a few minutes, but eventually the shaking stopped, and Kim relaxed, leaning back into Shego, the green flickering light bathing the bowl around them in eerie dancing shadows.

"Better now?" she asked softly.

"Yeah, a bit," Kim replied, sniffing. "I'm sorry.."

"Again, for what?" Shego asked. "Telling me how you feel?"

Kim nodded.

"Don't," Shego said. "Don't ever apologize for how you feel. The truth is.. I don't really know exactly how _I_ feel right now. I mean, yeah, I've already admitted that I like you a lot, sure, and you're a hell of a fighter, which I _have_ to respect, even if it's grudgingly because you've used it to kick my ass on a number of occasions, but.. even if we do both feel the same, I really don't think this is a great time for it, especially given the stupidity we have planned for tomorrow."

"Wouldn't this make it the best time?" Kim interjected.

"'Oh Kim, make love to me tonight, for tomorrow I may be dead.'" Shego deadpanned, and they both cracked up momentarily, the laughter feeling like a pressure valve releasing. "Yeah, no. Not really my style, Kimmie," she added when they sobered.

Shego shook her head. "I'm not going to lie, a part of me would like nothing more than to jump headfirst into.. this.. and see if it really could go anywhere.." She trailed off and shrugged around the smaller body in front of her. "But I also worry how much of that is me genuinely wanting to make this work, and how much it's that part of me that's been looking for a way to crush you and break you down and hurt you and prove that I'm better than you for years, all because of how many times you beat me in the past."

"Shego.."

"I told you before Kim, there's parts of me.. not nice parts, parts that have callouses on top of the knives on top of the razors, sharp edges that will cut you deep, and.. I don't think I'll ever be able to get rid of them. I just.. I spent too many years having them. In many way, most of them _are_ me."

"I wouldn't want you to," Kim said softly. "Then you wouldn't be the Shego I like. I didn't _really_ like Miss Go all that much," she admitted. " _Too_ nice. _So_ not you."

Shego laughed softly. "You probably liked her more than I did," then she paused, remembering the photo booth pictures that they'd taken together.. that she'd found the day after Stoppable had turned her back into her and..

"The good parts of her, I mean, the parts I did like." Kim said, interrupting her reverie. "They're still in here, though." She shifted slightly and somehow managed to contort herself to poke Shego in the chest.

"Yeah."

"With all the snarky extra bits I kinda like, too."

Shego grinned, then slowly worked herself to her feet, dragging Kim up with her.

"C'mon," she said. "It's a fair hike back to town, it's rather later than I thought it would be, and if we're out here any longer Betty's gonna start getting ideas about what's going on."

"Would they be the right ideas, or the wrong ideas?" Kim asked, smiling softly at her.

Shego reached out and took her hand as they walked side by side. "You tell me, Princess."

They were silent for the rest of the walk back, each caught up in their own thoughts.

"Sooo.. we see if this works slowly?" Kim asked finally as they reached the motel and slipped into their room quietly. "If we make it through, that is."

"I guess," Shego replied. "For now, though, I really think we should focus on tomorrow."

Kim nodded, then stepped in close, and before Shego could react, planted another quick kiss on her lips.

"That's not helping," Shego complained, then sighed as Kim grabbed her pajamas and slipped into the bathroom to strip out of the battlesuit.

 _What the hell have I gotten myself into?_ she wondered to herself, not for the first time.

* * *

 **A/N:** Well, there it is. The first more than just a hint moment of Kigo in the story. Will there be a happy ending for these two, given what's going on around them? Guess you'll have to come back next chapter.


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Note** : I return, with more tales of intrigue and... you know, I've realized I kind of suck at writing these introduction bits. On with the show, already!

 **Standard Disclaimer:** The various characters from the Kim Possible series are all owned by Disney. All registered trade names property of their respective owners. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

* * *

 **Kim Possible: Shadow Plays**

 **Chapter Fifteen**

 **KP KP KP**

"You know, I never did find out what happened to Commodore Puddles. Don't suppose you know?" Kim asked with a cheeky grin as the three of them waited on the side of the road just south of Colorado Springs proper.

"I don't know, and I don't care," Shego growled. "And I thought we agreed yesterday that we were stepping off Memory Lane and onto Current Events Road?"

Kim just kept grinning at her, until Shego scowled, at which point she relented.

"So when are these friends of yours getting here, Betty?" Shego asked eventually. "And just how good are they?"

"They'll be here shortly," Dr Director replied confidently. "I have faith in their abilities, so you should too. In fact, you even know one of them."

A few minutes later, a small car pulled up, with a larger dark blue van following along behind. A nondescript man in a grey suit got out of the car and walked directly over to them. He shook hands with Dr Director, then turned to Shego with a grin.

"Been awhile since the Weather Machine, Shego. How are you?"

Her eyes narrowed. "I remember you," she said slowly. "The Canadian secret agent."

Kim threw back the hood of her jumper. "Joe! I almost didn't recognize you!"

He froze, and blinked several times before looking sharply at Betty, who held her hands up defensively. "Don't blame me, I didn't know until just the other day either," she said quickly, and his posture relaxed slightly.

"Kim Possible, alive and well after all," he said eventually. "I mean, I saw the news but I didn't exactly believe it. I suppose I should have had more faith in you, but.. wow. Wow."

"I don't know about 'well', exactly, but I've been working on it. It's a long story, Joe," she told him, slipping forward to give him a quick hug. "And not a particularly nice one."

"I think I know parts of it," he replied, patting her on the shoulder, before he turned back to the other two. "After Dr Director came north and we let her through the border, we tracked her until she and Will evacuated from their facility. The Canadian government asked my group to clean up… it wasn't pretty. I'm so sorry about your agents, Betty, but everyone we found was long dead by the time we got through the automated defenses and inside. Whoever hit that base was thorough, in the worst possible way."

"I figured," Betty told him. "Will and I had no choice with some, we outran the rest. I hated having to leave them behind, but we didn't have any option. Listen, we just came from Washington, Wallace admitted to sending Cerberus there to claim the Lowardian salvage, but he claims they were beaten to the punch, and he had no knowledge of the brain control chips being used to ambush me."

"You trust that answer? You forgotten that I know Wallace, Betty? He's always been a lying snake, and he got worse after he got the DDO role.'

Shego shrugged. "He was kind of convincing when persuaded."

Joe looked at her, and she waved one of her hands up, and mimed the motion she usually used to light her plasma.

He nodded. "Okay, I'll buy it. So someone else has the Lowardian salvage?"

"Yes, and we're not sure who… but Wallace did give us a name - Sims - and said that the Cerberus raid on the Middleton Space Center was supposed to deliver anything they picked up to him. Luckily thanks to the interference of two people -" at which point Kim and Shego both waved - "They were unsuccessful in their attempt, but a few scientists are still missing."

"Okay, so why are we in Colorado Springs?" Joe asked. He blinked in surprise as all three of the women turned to look up at one of the hills that surrounded the town. "Oh, you're not _seriously_ thinking of breaking into NORAD are you? I thought this was just a rendezvous point on the way to somewhere else!"

Shego and Kim both grinned.

"Technically, it's not NORAD any more," Dr Director pointed out. "That's based at Peterson AFB. This is still the alternate site, but most of it has been given over to DARPA for Black Research facilities. We know that's where Sims is based, and we suspect the scientists are in there somewhere. And there's a possibility that Sims upstaged Wallace and Cerberus somehow and he has the Lowardian salvage already."

"Oh _hell_ ," he groaned. "Tell me you at least have a plan?"

"We're going to reuse an old classic," Kim told him. "We put it together in a hurry, but it's viable."

"Wade thinks he can get into the bases computer systems if we get him someone inside with a link to the external antenna array," Dr Director elaborated. "So Kim and Shego will be infiltrating the base via its external air exchange systems. In order to do that, we need to get them to go to internal systems briefly, then back to normal once these two are inside so that Phase 2 can go ahead."

"What's Phase 2?" he asked.

"When I'm inside the system," Wade said from Kim's wrist, where the Kimmunicator had flared to life. "I'll activate a radiation alarm from the bases microreactor and a biohazard alarm in their secure containment facility at the same time. The plan is they'll open the main doors and head out of the facility, and if they leave anyone behind, it'll be just a skeleton containment crew."

"So that gets you two inside - why do you need me and my men?" he asked.

"We want you to play anvil to their hammer," Betty said. "I'm going to be working my way around the exterior of the north tunnel exit, ensuring that the security systems are rerouted into our own system, allowing us to monitor and cut it off, when we want. At the same time as they go in, Kim and Shego will plant explosives allowing us to block the south exit, forcing everyone inside to head up the north exit. The plan is for your troops to take the guard facility quickly and quietly with my help, and then move into the tunnel to act as traffic control while everyone else is exiting. With any luck, the confusion will allow you to get to the main doors without being questioned too closely. From there, we go to Phase 3."

Kim took up the explanation. "After we trigger the biohazard and radiation alerts, Shego and I will infiltrate to Sims' office and secure him for questioning, and then one or both of us will act as the hammer driving any leftover or tardy personnel out - when we get near the main entrance, you and your team can pull inside on pretense of attacking us. As soon as we have you all inside, we seal the doors and then we're inside the secure facility and they're not."

Joe nodded thoughtfully. "It's less complicated than I thought it would be," he said. "Simplicity usually works in your favor, as does the element of surprise. Any chance this Sims guy knows you're coming?"

Betty shook her head. "Slight, but I think if he does, he probably imagines he's secure in there. His overconfidence will give us a chance to prove him wrong."

"I've got a couple of suggestions," Joe said. "Firstly, is there a barracks here in Colorado Springs where the guard forces are quartered? If so, can we, ah, acquire uniforms and equipment there, make ourselves look convincing _before_ we take the guard station outside the North entrance?"

Kim nodded. "Good idea - Shego can probably slip in and get what you need." She looked over, and the green woman nodded.

"Second, instead of acting as traffic control, why don't we pretend to be the Rapid Response Unit, and just head straight inside?"

"I don't want to risk any of the forces inside and on station joining up with you in an attempt to play hero."

"We can… encourage… them to continue evacuating," Joe replied.

Shego nodded again. "Any other suggestions?"

Joe nodded. "Be prepared for anything you can think might go wrong to go wrong."

"Murphy's law?"

"Yeah, to the nth degree," he replied. "Although I prefer von Moltke: 'no battle plan survives first contact with the enemy'. Don't expect this to go smoothly."

"When does anything ever?" Shego asked sardonically. "I think Patton said it best: 'A good solution applied with vigor now is better than a perfect solution applied ten minutes later.'"

Joe smiled. "Wouldn't have taken you for a student of military history, Shego."

"Hey, I can _read_ , and I like Patton. He might have been a total asshole, but he sure knew how to inspire his troops and drive them to kick the everloving crap out of the Germans... of course, he was completely insane, but you probably had to be to pull off half of his successes."

"So how does that explain your ex-employer's complete and total failure? I mean, you've got a lot of experience working for a crazy guy who can't make a plan work to save his life.." Kim taunted.

Shego shot her a dirty look. "Traitor," she hissed, and Kim grinned back at her.

Joe looked over at Dr Director, who shrugged. "I've chosen to ignore it," she said quietly. "The two of them working together already scares me enough."

"Why, cause Kim could go bad?" Joe whispered back.

"Unlikely, I know," Betty said. "But you have to admit, the possibilities.."

"Are downright frightening, which is why I wouldn't dare do it," Shego said, having overheard. "I'm too lazy to take over the world - Kim, on the other hand, would probably do it a little _too_ well. Besides, while it's fun on that side, it wouldn't be _nearly_ as fun without Princess here to beat on." She put one arm around Kim, and squeezed.

"Or beat off to," Kim leaned up to whisper in her ear. Shego started choking in shock, and Kim dissolved into laughter.

"KIM!" she shouted when she regained the ability to speak.

"I must have missed something," Joe said lightly.

"Trust me, you're better off not knowing," Dr Director said, shooting a knowing look at Kim and Shego, who both blushed.

"Right. I'll take your word for it. If you'll excuse me, I'll go brief my team."

"Are you sure they can be trusted?" Shego asked.

"All of them have worked with for ten years, minimum, and we all had friends in GJ who were based at the Delta site. It's part of the reason why I asked for us to be the cleanup crew there," Joe told her. "This is about getting back at the people who hurt them, so yeah, I trust them."

Shego nodded her understanding. "Fine. How many uniforms do you need from the barracks? I'll sneak in and grab them this evening."

"Ten will be enough. We're all pretty average sized, grab whatever you can."

"Consider it done. Meet back here at midnight, and we'll get this show on the road."

It was well past midnight Kim and Shego finally started making their way slowly and stealthily up the rocks above the southern entrance to the Cheyenne Mountain facility, heading towards the external air filtration system's disguised exit point higher up the mountain.

They stopped every so often to carefully insert shaped charge explosives into shallow holes they dug at several points along the way, points which Wade had calculated would be most effective for bringing down only a small part of the hill, rather than destabilizing the whole face. Once that first small group of explosives were placed, they moved higher, where they planted several more, this time using Shego's plasma carefully to 'drill' deeper - by vaporizing the rock, letting it cool, and then dropping the explosive charge in before scraping rock back over the top and using plasma again - on a lower heat this time - to melt the top layer of rock and semi-seal the charge inside.

The reason for the second charges being deeper was twofold - firstly, they were hoping to avoid the remote possibility of them being sympathetically detonated by the first group, and secondly, they were hoping to bring much more of the hillside down on the south exit with the second group.

"We need them to go to their internal air systems for long enough for us to sneak through without triggering any sensors, so the first packages will set off a small landslip, just enough scree to cause dust and so on, which will trigger the switch. The second set, they're going to go off when we're ready to initiate Phase 2, to ensure everybody goes to the North exit and is corralled out by Joe's team and Dr Director."

Kim had explained that change to the plan when she'd returned with the pilfered uniforms, while she was wiring radio controlled detonators into the small packages of C4 - showing off a skill that Shego hadn't known Kim had. (' _Did you hear about the time I rescued the guys from Mythbusters? They hooked me with some time with their explosives experts when they found out how much I loved that part of the show', Kim had said when she'd noticed Shego's nonplussed expression. 'I know what I'm doing, trust me.')_

It wasn't entirely surprising that Kim had _some_ skills hidden away that she'd never seen the ex-cheerleader use before, but it was the casual, practiced ease with which she handled high explosives that had Shego reconsidering a lot of assumptions she'd long held about the redhead.

"Sooo… any other useful skills I should know about, Princess?" she had asked.

Kim had grinned without looking up from the C4 and shook her head. "Mmm, nothing that would interest you right at this point in time."

"How about you let me make that decision?"

"Okay, I can balance a ball on my nose longer than seals can," Kim had said, and Shego had burst into disbelieving laughter.

"Circus tricks and high explosives, what a combination."

"You should see me juggle live grenades," Kim had told her, and the laughter had escalated until a look from Betty had quietened both of them.

Now, having placed the last of the explosives, the two crept silently higher up the mountain until they reached the external components of the base's air exchange system. Kim pulled out her Kimmunicator and tapped a brief message to Wade, and a few seconds later, there was a series of cracks, like firecrackers going off, and then a low rushing sound that almost sounded like rapids on a river.

In the darkness and with no moon to go on, Kim couldn't see anything happening, but Shego's supernaturally good night vision let her see the surface of the hill below them slowly start sliding down towards the southern exit for the access tunnel.

"Perfect," she whispered, and Kim nodded beside her. A few seconds later, as the dust began rising up the hill, she felt the Kimmunicator vibrate twice, Wade's 'go' signal.

Kim broke out the small lipstick laser from her belt pouch, and began cutting away the grating over the top of the exchanger's external vents. A minute later, both were inside, Kim slipping down the narrow air vent while Shego twisted and used a small pulse of her plasma power to half weld the grate back into place. It wouldn't stand up to a detailed examination, but it would satisfy a cursory glance if someone happened upon it, which was all they really needed - it wasn't likely anyone would be up there, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Ahead of her, Kim had already turned the first corner and Shego slithered down the vent quickly to catch up. Together they made their way into the hillside, both quietly thankful that neither suffered from claustrophobia, though Shego felt a blush rise to her cheeks several times as her eyes were continually drawn to the backside moving along in front of her, driving her almost to distraction as they made their way in.

It took almost half an hour to crawl through the vents to the internal air exchange units, and the system switched back over before they could exit, necessitating a minor change in the plan. After a careful examination of the area surrounding them via the Kimmunicator's scanning ability, Kim cut around a section of the vent wall with her lipstick laser, before she eased the cooling metal into the vent and gently placed it down in front of her.

"Careful, the edges are hot," she whispered as Shego slipped through the newly created hole.

"Not to me," Shego whispered back, dropping to the floor in complete silence.

Kim sighed, then slipped through the hole head first without touching the edges, flipping in the air and landing next to Shego as silently as the ex-thief had done, prompting a rueful smile and a shake of the head.

"Sims' office is in the last building in this 'row'," Kim whispered. "According to the plans from Wade. There really shouldn't be that many staff on duty now, since it's supposed to already be a pretty small crew at night, but I wouldn't put it past him to have a small squad near, just in case."

"So we stay low and don't blow the element of surprise until we're inside," Shego said. "Piece of cake."

"Did you _have_ to say that?" Kim complained, before she lifted her wrist with the Kimmunicator on it and typed a quick update to Wade: _Moving now. ETA on Phase 2, 15 minutes._

Despite Shego tempting fate to intervene, the two of them made it through the mostly deserted base with surprising ease. Moving quietly but quickly, they encountered nobody else as they slipped from doorway to doorway.

"Am I the only one thinking this is almost too easy?" Shego muttered, triggering a scowl from Kim.

"Again, did you _have_ to say that?" she sighed.

"I'm just saying," Shego said defensively. "We should have seen _someone_ , shouldn't we? Even a total skeleton crew would still have had some of these sections staffed. Something's not right."

Kim paused, then thought about it. "Say you're right… is it a trap? And if it is, and we've worked out it's a trap…"

"But if they expected us to work out it was a trap, it might be a trap trap," Shego said, and promptly grinned at the aggrieved look Kim gave her.

"You're impossible," Kim muttered.

"Nope, that's you, Princess," Shego retorted, as they reached the floor below the one containing Sims office. "Hey, I've got an idea. Instead of going to the mountain, why don't we bring the mountain to us?" Kim looked over as Shego gestured at the roof above them, and blinked in confusion.

"I'm not sure that's how the proverb is supposed to go," she said, then realized what Shego was meaning. "Oh, you're thinking of weakening the floor under his desk and bringing it down?"

"Yep. Has the element of surprise, don't you think?"

"How do we know he's in there?"

"Lipstick laser, fiber optic camera, and Kimmunicator. Tada!" Shego replied.

Kim nodded. "I like it. Let's do it."

They found the office that the plans showed was directly below Sims' and Shego jumped up onto the desk inside and lit her hands, before holding them to the roof and carefully starting to carve a wide circle out, taking care not to push too deep into the structure. As she did so, Kim used her lipstick laser to make the smallest possible hole in a corner of the floor, then engaged the remote camera built into the Kimmunicator and slipped the fiber up through the hole.

Sims was indeed sitting at his desk, and was on the phone yelling at someone, though the words were muffled by something - she wondered if it was some kind of electronic distortion preventing the microphone from picking it up.

Kim flicked the Kimmunicator back to voice mode, and opened a link to Wade. "We're in," she told him. "Shego's preparing a surprise for him now. Trigger the alarms and the second set of explosives in thirty seconds."

"Thirty seconds - understood," Wade replied. "Dr Director and Joe are ready to move - she's disabled all the forward security already, and Joe's team have secured the gate."

"Good. Let's do this."

Shego looked over at her. "Everything ready?"

Kim nodded. "Everybody's set."

"Shall we crash his party then?" Shego asked rhetorically, before flaring her plasma and rapidly firing four powerful blasts at equidistant points around the circle she'd weakened, snapping through the main supports that she'd left relatively undisturbed. She dove off the desk and rolled, coming up standing beside Kim and leaning indolently against the wall as the entire plug shaped section fell straight down, crushing the desk below it, and the man sitting in the chair was jolted loose to land on his backside.

"Nice of you to _drop_ in, Sims," Shego said cheerfully, as Kim face palmed beside her. "We'd like to ask you a few questions."

 **KP KP KP**

As soon as Shego had spoken, a series of loud alarms sounded around them, with an automated voice advising of a radiation alert, and asking all personnel to prepare to evacuate.

Sims shook his head to clear it, looking first at Shego. "You!" he gasped, and then he noticed Kim standing beside her. "And.. you!"

"Long time no see, _Major_. No giant dog this time, but I can still do this if I have to." Shego lit her hands for emphasis, and he flinched away.

"You… you can't be here," he stammered, which elicited a low laugh from Shego.

"I think you'll find I can, and am."

"Not you… her!" Sims said, pointing at Kim. "She's dead!"

"I've been getting that a lot lately," Kim quipped, then turned to Shego. "Looks like he doesn't watch much news here. I guess it means he doesn't know anything about the faked assassination, either."

"Must have been a different part of the little conspiracy.." Shego shrugged, and scowled at Sims. "Look, we know you were part of the group who plotted to steal the Lowardian wreckage that was being researched at the Middleton Space Center, Wallace gave you up. Why don't you make it easy on us all and tell us where the scientists are, and what you know about the stuff at the Delta Site?"

Sims had started laughing, a low, angry laugh.

"What the hell are you laughing at, Sims?" she demanded.

"Betty Director, where is she? I know you must have come here with her. If you're asking about Delta site, she has to be here. I'll tell her.. I'll tell her everything. Only her."

Kim raised her Kimmunicator. "Dr Director?"

"Yes, Kimberly?"

"We have a problem. We have Sims contained but he's refusing to talk unless you're here as well. What's your status?"

"I'm with Joe and his team. Something strange is going on - we haven't encountered any personnel leaving the facility."

"What?"

"It's true, Kim," Wade broke in. "I've finally got access to the cameras from the shunt you installed for me, and I can't see anybody in the base at all."

"Told you that something wasn't right," Shego muttered in a low voice to Kim. "That doesn't make any damn sense. I know you said this facility wasn't what it used to be, but this is ridiculous."

"I'm on my way to you now," Dr Director said. "Joe and his team will hold here and secure the tunnel for us, just in case there are _any_ hostile forces coming, from the inside or the outside. They may be thinking to trap us inside."

"Understood," Kim replied, looking over at Shego, who gave her a nonplussed look. Kim shrugged, and kept a watchful eye over Sims for the few minutes it took for Betty to make her way to them. When she appeared on the floor above them, looking down through the hole at the ruined office in surprise, Kim pointed at Shego. "It was her idea."

Dr Director shook her head, then jumped down gingerly. She looked at Sims, who was still sitting where he'd fallen. "Well well, Major. I'm surprised to see you again."

"Betty," he spat with a sudden venom that surprised Kim and Shego, his entire body language changing from resignation to a quivering anger without warning. "This is all _your_ fault."

"I'm sorry?" she asked. "How do you figure that?"

"Area 51 was supposed to be my golden ticket, the post that took me to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. I had it made, we had the Blue Laser project finalized and ready to ship, and then.. that green bitch and her blue idiot of a boss showed up."

Shego growled, but Sims continued on with his tirade, ignoring her.

"And of course, wherever they go, Kim bloody Possible and her idiot show up."

Kim tensed, and Shego caught the motion. She gave Kim a significant look, but Kim ignored it, her fists clenching.

"But we stopped Drakken and Shego and Commodore Puddles," Kim objected. "They didn't get anything.."

"Oh yes they did," Sims said. "While you idiots were tussling topside, Drakken sneaked in and found the _only_ working example of a flying saucer we had left, and with it the last living specimens from the Roswell incident, somehow managed to get it flying again, and then he _killed_ them."

"What?" All three of the women asked it at the same time.

"He had a cold, or something, and they had no defense against the virus. Why do you think we kept them in their isolation tanks, for god's sake?"

"Oh hell," Shego groaned, running her hands over her face. "He never did tell me how he got away that time."

"Well after he caused the ship to crash - _again_ \- in Roswell, he bailed, and left us to clean up the dying grays, and we had to cover it all up - _again_ \- and guess who got the blame for it all? _Me_!"

Kim took a half step back as his rage escalated.

"So how is it _my_ fault, Major?" Betty interjected.

"Because you didn't stop them. You didn't stop either of them."

"Shego and Drakken?"

"No, Shego and Kim Possible. We all know Drakken was only a threat because of Shego, but you could have locked Shego and Drakken up and thrown away the key... and Possible, you could have stopped her vigilante nonsense years ago, and you could have-"

"Yeah right," Shego snorted, but Sims continued as if she wasn't there, his rant building steam.

"- and none of this would have happened. I'd have never have been busted back to Major, and I'd never have been posted to the ass end of Alaska, and _my wife and kids wouldn't have gone to Middleton, and they might still be alive instead of dead at the feet of a Lowardian WarBot_!"

Kim felt a large part of her anger flood out from her, and she unclenched her fists.

"I'm sorry about your family, Major Sims," she said quietly, amazed at how steady and even her voice remained despite the surge of emotions flooding her. "I'm sorry that they died, but so did a lot of other people. _More_ would have if Shego and Drakken and Ron and I hadn't stopped the Lowardians, and if we'd never been allowed to do what we did.."

"I don't care," he replied bitterly. "It doesn't matter now anyway. It's all too late, you're too late."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Shego demanded.

"You're too late for the Lowardian crap.. because it was never even here anyway."

"What?" Betty asked. "But.. Wallace said it was you who.."

"I was double crossed. The trucks that left Middleton supposedly full of salvage and scientists to study it arrived here full of scrap metal. The ones that were supposed to come from Delta site came back full of crap as well. Whoever beat us to your little storeroom cleaned it out."

"So we have nothing.." Betty said, her eyes widening. "Goddamnit! Not again!" She turned and slammed her fist into the wall nearby.

Sims began to laugh again. "I guess I win after all," he said darkly, as another alarm suddenly went off.

"What the hell did you do, Sims?" Shego demanded.

"It's not what I did," he said. "It's what I'm _going_ to do!"

As he shouted, he pulled a gun from an ankle holster, and before any of them could stop him, he fired a shot at Dr Director who grunted in surprise as the bullet hit her in the abdomen, and slumped to her knees slowly.

Kim and Shego were both already in motion as Sims rolled towards Kim, his gun swinging into line with her as she dove across his path. He pulled the trigger just as a wave of green heat washed over his hand, and he screamed as both the gun and the hand holding it were incinerated by the hottest, most concentrated plasma blast Shego could produce on short notice.

Kim rolled, and came up to her feet, gagging as the smell of burnt flesh washed over her, and the agonized wailing from Sims continued, she slid to a stop at Betty's side, her hand slipping down to feel for the entry wound in her stomach.

"She's been hit!" she cried. "Shego?"

"I'm okay, I'm okay, Princess. What about you?" Shego panted, her eyes never wavering from the fetal ball that Sims had curled up into.

"I think your plasma burst incinerated the bullet," Kim said quietly, swallowing away the bile that rose to the back of her throat. "God, this looks bad. Can you.. can you cauterize the wound?"

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea, princess," Shego said. "I might do more bad than good."

"She probably bleeds out in five minutes if you don't!"

"Alright, alright. Grab her sidearm," she said. "Watch Sims. _Don't_ take your eyes off him, whatever you do."

Kim nodded and complied, easing Dr Director's pistol from its holster and gripping it tightly, flicking the safety off and leveling it at Sims, who was rocking back and forth slightly and moaning.

Shego ducked down to Betty's side, and felt around the entry wound, then gently slipped her hand around the back, thankfully not finding an exit wound.

"Okay Bets, this is definitely going to hurt you a _lot_ more than it'll hurt me," she said, grabbing Betty's belt and pulling it off, placing it in between the semi-conscious woman's teeth, then lighting only her index finger and gently easing it into the entry wound.

"NNNNNGGGGGGHHHHH!" Betty screamed around the belt, then it fell out at the moment Shego's finger emerged from her stomach. "Fuuuuuuuuck!"

"Sorry," Shego said contritely. "Kimmie, you were right, she needs medvac, now. We've got to get her to the jet."

"Joe's coming, Wade has the jet on remote pilot and it's five minutes out."

"Okay, let's get ready to move her-"

"Both of them," Kim said firmly.

Kim was incredibly grateful when for once, Shego chose not to argue. "Fine. You take Betty, I'll take Sims. Let's move, Princess."

Suiting action to words, she stepped over to Sims, and then picked him up in one smooth motion, throwing him over her shoulder without any care at all - but at that exact moment that a mobile phone started ringing. Curious, Shego extracted it from Sims' pocket and then hit answer, putting it on speaker.

"Sims? Sims, are you there?" an unfamiliar male voice asked.

"I'm afraid he can't come to the phone right now," Shego said, as Kim picked Dr Director up into a fireman's carry over her shoulder and started carrying her out. Shego looked down at the phone in her hand, and smiled grimly.

"Ahhhh, Shego… well well, you made better time from Washington than I expected. I suppose Sims can't answer the phone because you've dealt with him already."

"He tried something stupid, and he's paying the price… but you don't sound very surprised to hear my voice," Shego said, as a searing realization burned through her mind. "You… you must be the one behind this all. You're the one who went after Kim, you're the one who organised her assassination, you killed her..."

"Well, I suppose you were going to figure it all out sooner or later... but Shego, a piece of advice? Don't bullshit a bullshitter - I _know_ Kim's there with you, I know she's been working with you for a while now, just not quite how long. I never did worked out where she disappeared to. It was the one gap in our plans, and why we resorted to our, uh, backup option. We had to find a way to draw her out somehow."

"Well you did a pretty piss poor job of covering your tracks," Shego said.

"Oh, I don't know about that," the man said with an amused tone. "You still don't know who I even am, and the other people involved are all already dead. Except Wallace, which I guess I'll have to remedy shortly, after he told you to look at Sims."

"You've bugged the CIA Headquarters?" Shego muttered. "If I wasn't so pissed right now, I'd be impressed."

"I'm _flattered_ , Shego, truly," the man said sarcastically.

"What do you _actually_ want? What's your angle here, anyway?"

"If you think I'm going to pull a Drakken and tell you my entire plan and how brilliant it is, you're shit out of luck... but I _will_ tell you that I want you, and that little redheaded bitch who's hanging out with you, to stay the _hell_ out of our way… but since I already know that's not going to happen-"

"You got that right," Kim replied hotly.

"- I'm glad I had the foresight to prepare for just this eventuality, and that Sims was so angry at my little deception with the scrap metal in the trucks that he didn't look too closely into what was _under_ the scrap."

Shego looked over at Kim, who looked back with a frightened look. _Oh crap_ , she thought, as the man laughed. She picked up her pace, and Kim was right behind her, the battlesuit glowing blue as it boosted her normal strength and speed - she hated to think what they were doing to Betty's injury, but if her guess was right, and somebody had a bomb set to destroy the base in one of the trucks…

They burst into the security lobby where the main doors were located at a run, surprising Joe and his commandos. Shego waved for them to follow, her urgency conveying a weight to the gesture, and to their credit, none of them wasted time on stupid questions, and every one of them turned and ran after her and Kim.

"I think this is where I say goodbye, Shego," the voice said. "I would say I'm sorry, but given how much you've already cost us... I don't think I'll be sad to see the end of you."

"I don't know who you are, you piece of shit," Shego swore as she ran. "But when I find you, I'm going to make you pay for every life you've ruined with this bullshit."

"Well, if you can survive being burnt to ashes and buried under a couple of million tons of rubble, then I guess I'll have to make more plans to get rid of you... but I really don't think I'll have to assign much of a budget to it," he replied. "Oh, and Kim.. I do hope you actually talked to your parents after they thought you were dead the _first_ time... it'd be a shame to die for _real_ without having said goodbye."

"Fuck you," Kim swore, and he just laughed, then the call disconnected.

Behind them, there was a low rumbling, and the ground shook beneath them.

"Craaaap.. Joe, take Sims!" Shego shouted, then after she all but tossed the large man to Joe and another commando to drag-carry down the tunnel, she turned back and set herself.

"Shego!" Kim yelled, looking over one shoulder.

"Keep your ass moving, Princess or I _swear to god_ I will beat you black and blue!" Shego screamed.

She took a deep breath as the first orange light appeared from the main security doors, then an angry orange flamefront was rushing towards her.

 _This'll either go really well, or really,_ really _badly_ , Shego had time to think, then a miniature nova of green flame roared out from her hands, raced up her arms, and within a blink of an eye covered her head to toe, then expanded further, the plasma as bright as the sun and almost as hot, as Shego poured every bit of the accumulated power she could summon, then _willed_ it forward, taking a step toward the flame and _pushing_ with that immense, overpowering green surge that raced forward in brighter and brighter pulses that filled the entire tunnel. Each time a pulse of the green plasma met orange flame, there was a flare of pulsing light, and in the end, only the green remained as the wave of flames retreated back down the tunnel.

She had held it for five agonizingly long seconds, by far the largest plasma wave she'd _ever_ managed.

Exhausted, she could only collapse to her knees, the green dissipating as quickly as she'd summoned it. She felt her balance wobble, then she was falling over sideways.

 _Pretty crappy place to be buried,_ a part of her mind sarcastically whispered at her. _You deserve a bigger monument than some crappy mountain in Colorado._

As she started to whisper a silent goodbye to Kim, she was interrupted by a pair of arms that scooped her from the ground, lifting her up and over a small shoulder.

"What… did.. I.. say?" she whispered as Kim's battlesuit covered backside filled her vision.

"Oh it's moving, don't you worry," Kim replied back grimly, as the sound of rock collapsing behind them rumbled ominously close. "This is still gonna be close.."

In the end, they almost made it.

At the very last second, the roof of the tunnel in front of them gave way, and Kim skidded to a stop, pulling Shego off her shoulder and into a tight clinch as the blue bubble force field sprang into existence around them, but they were suddenly completely enclosed by tons of rock.

The only light came from the blue of the force field, and that was dimming by the second.

"Oh boy, that's _really_ not good," Kim muttered. "Shego, I need you to get ready to blast us out."

"No.. way.." Shego groaned. "Got nothing left.."

"C'mon Shego, you can do this. Just one big blast, I think we're less than five meters from the exit, but it might as well be five hundred if you can't blast us out before my shield runs out of power."

"No can do.." Shego moaned, looking down at her hands and trying to summon the plasma. "Just.. used.. everything."

Kim refused to let the panic that was building in her heart and in the back of her head get to her. _Think, Possible, think!_ She looked down at her wrist, and saw that the power level was already down to 65% and falling fast. _There's always a way out.._

"Sorry Kim," Shego whispered. "Just... got no spark left.."

Things snapped into place instantly in Kim's mind, and a smirk as wide as any Shego had ever worn appeared on her face. The force field produced enough light for Shego to see it too, and she winced in anticipation.

"Uhoh.. seen.. that look before..."

"In a mirror?" Kim quipped, and Shego's eyes widened as Kim bent down and kissed her on the mouth quickly. "Sorry, this is probably going to hurt quite a bit."

"What… ohhh no," Shego just had time to protest, before Kim pointed the back of the Kimmunicator on her wrist at Shego's chest, and pressed a button on the top.

A pair of darts shot across the five inch gap and plunged through the synthetic fabric of Shego's top, embedding themselves shallowly in her chest. Before the pain of the darts could register, the wires, still attached to the Kimmunicator, sparked blue, sending a bolt of current into Shego's chest.

"FUUUUUUUUUUURrghhhhkhkk." Shego's scream of pain cut off as her hands burst into bright green, and Kim flinched away as the plasma, uncontrolled momentarily, flared hotly, then dimmed to it's usual normal green.

Shego sat up gingerly, and then glared at her. "Next time.." she started angrily, then sighed. "Ah hell, lets just make sure there isn't a next time," she muttered.

"Good plan," Kim said. "Ready? On three."

"You know which way I need to go?" Shego said. "Rather not burn us deeper into the mountain."

"Never fear, your personal compass, both physical and moral, is here," Kim replied, grinning and pointing in the right direction.

"God you're _twisted_ , Possible," Shego growled, then powered up the plasma around her hands to the max she could manage. "Do it!"

"Okay.. one… two… THREE!" On three, Kim dropped the force field, then ducked as close behind Shego as she could as the green woman lit her hands high and fired a continuous green beam of power straight forward.

The two of them ran forward, ducking low, the super heated plasma having fused the rock above them just long enough for them to sprint through the short tunnel, and they burst into the bright light of Shego's VTOL hovering a few meters away as the improvised tunnel groaned and then collapsed behind them, sending a cloud of dust pouring out behind them.

"Nice of you to join us!" Joe called from the hatch of the VTOL as they straightened up and dusted themselves off. "Your friend Wade said to give you a minute or so, but we gotta get Betty to a hospital now!"

"Right!" Kim replied, and she pulled Shego, now exhausted a second time, along behind her then pushed her up into Joe's waiting grip before leaping aboard easily. "Wade, we're on, get us moving!"

 **KP KP KP**

It wasn't fair.

It was _so_ unfair that it was almost comical.

If it had been anyone else, Jack would have been laughing himself sick at their misfortune.

But it had happened to _him_ , so instead of laughing, he was raging.

The antique samurai sword in his hand was currently destroying a good portion of his office - an office that had only been set up just hours ago, moments before he'd arrived - after most of HenchCo's operations had moved to the 'new' facility and he'd joined them to supervise. The incredibly sharp edge of the blade had already annihilated several priceless porcelain antiques, famous marble busts, and other miscellaneous loot he'd _collected_ over the years, but never been stupid enough to publicly display in his original office in Nashville.

As the sword repeated swung, cleaving more priceless treasure to junk, his mind churned with ever growing rage.

He'd been played for a fool, the whole time.

He'd thought Vinnie had come to him because nobody else could provide what he had - and he'd been right, but Vinnie hadn't been acting alone. That much was clear. For all the cleverness Jack had, for all the way he's planned to get rid of Vinnie and take everything for himself... he'd missed the blindingly obvious.

Vinnie Wheeler wasn't smart enough to pull all this off. Someone had been pulling his strings… and when he'd cut the strings on Vinnie, someone had reattached them...

To him.

As his rage finally subsided slightly, he held the sword low at his side and and stared at the massive window at the far end, which looked out over the main space of the lair… the lair which should have been piled high with the salvage that had been secreted away from Delta site over the past six months, leading up to the events of the last few weeks.

Instead, it stood as empty as his plans for using it to leverage himself into being the most powerful person on the planet.

It wasn't _fair_.

Jack turned at the sound of shoes crunching on glass, and saw Beau Rock-Racey enter the room and pull up short in surprise, his eyes tracking the destruction around the room. Jack noticed he was holding a phone of some description.

"Jack?" Beau asked carefully, eyeing the glinting sword still clenched in his hand and the damage around the room. "I found this in my office. It had a note on it - it said to deliver it to you when the smashing stopped?"

"What?" Jack demanded, then fell silent as the phone began to ring - and Jack stared in disbelief as the lyrics of the song emanated from the phone. He felt his anger surge again as the tune became clear.

The Gambler.

 _You've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em,  
Know when to walk away, know when to run.  
You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table,  
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.  
_  
Rock-Racey took two swift steps backwards as the sword in Jack's hand twitched dangerously, then Hench managed to regain some control over his anger, gesturing with his free hand for the phone. The silver haired executive carefully extended it out to Jack, then stepped back again, making to leave the office.

"Stay." The command was low, but the response was instant. Rock-Racey stood as still as a statue, though his eyebrows rose as Jack continued to contemplate the vibrating, singing object in his hands for a moment longer, then stabbing at the answer icon with his thumb and holding it up to his ear.

"Who the hell is this?" he demanded.

"Jack… Jack… I have to say, I'm a little disappointed. That's not really the kind of team attitude we're looking for."

"Listen, asshole-"

"No, _you_ listen, Hench, or the last thing you'll ever hear are the words ' _Abaddon Process Initiated_ ' from my little computer here, before you, and every little piece of HenchCo you up and relocated to that new little hidey-hole of yours is incinerated by plasma… giving you the same undignified exit from the world you gave poor Vinnie."

Jack's jaw clamped shut, then his brain started racing. He paced the floor of the office, the steady _crunch_ , _crunch_ , _crunch_ under his feet going unnoticed.

This wasn't possible. Apart from him, _nobody_ knew about Abaddon, except the scientists involved, and they'd all been... dealt with... once it had been officially deployed.

It just wasn't possible for anyone else to..

Rock-Racey's steely stare from across the room told him that his VP of Hench Operations might just be putting two and two together with the explosion of the Georgia lair.

 _Shit!_

"Jack, I know you're probably thinking something along the lines of 'It's not possible' right now. To prove you wrong and eliminate any chance of you doing something monumentally stupid in the immediate future, I want you to take out your little control, open it up, and then look at the ID of the lair it's currently targeting."

It took a few moments, and Jack had to lay the samurai sword on the desk amidst the rubble of his other trophies, but he eventually got the Abaddon arming device active… and blinked in shock.

The numbers clearly spelled out the lair ID number for the facility he was standing in.

 _They_ do _have control of my system!_

As if to prove it further, the lair selected suddenly cycled to another he recognized as located in Russia… then it moved to one in Canada, before it moved on again. Chile, Brazil, South Africa, the Caribbean… then finally it settled back on the code of his own current location.

"I trust we've made our point?" the voice said pleasantly.

Jack swallowed both his pride and his rage. "You have."

"Good. Now, to business, then. I have an opportunity for you…"

"I've heard that before," Jack muttered involuntarily.

"Quite right," the voice replied with a laugh. "But while Vinnie was working on our behalf, he had no idea of our true scope, our true plans, at all. Oh, don't worry about what happened, Vinnie was a liability from the start... but he had served his purpose by the point you got rid of him for us and tested the Abaddon devices."

"He was bait. He was bait to lure me in," Jack realized.

"Correct," the voice confirmed. "To push you firmly off the fence, and get you in among the players for the first time. To commit your resources to the task. It took a lot of pressure, especially to get the Russians to play ball appropriately, but we pushed HenchCo - pushed you - to a position where you were ready..."

"Ready for what? To be tossed aside like Vinnie?" Jack asked, fear slowly being overcome by curiosity.

"No, not like Vinnie. You'll be different Jack. You'll see. We want to bring you on as a partner - a junior partner, of course, but still a partner."

"A partner in what?"

"Why, taking over the world of course!"

Jack took a minute to let that sink in.

"And if I say no? You vaporize this lair?"

"Tsk tsk, no.. that would be a waste of resources. No, we vaporize a different lair entirely. One per day. Each one of which has someone or something close to you that you value, though that is a disappointingly small list. I think we would probably start with... the lair your ex-wife and daughter are guests in."

Jack's blood ran as cold as the tundra outside, as the only surviving wall screen in his office switched on and flicked to a view from the monitoring camera of a HenchCo Detention Wing Model 509 Modular Holding Cell - a holding cell that currently had two people he instantly recognized sitting inside it, looking miserable despite what looked like more than the usual amenities.

"You… son of a bitch."

"I've been called far worse in my time, Jack. You get that one for free. But fair warning, Jack, insults are not a smart way to keep the senior partners happy and your family alive. Understand?"

Jack looked at Rock-Racey, who looked back helplessly at him, shrugging.

"I understand."

"Good. Now, as you've probably realized, we have control of your little lair-popper, and we have control of the remote systems of all of your lairs as well. At the moment, the only one we've interfered with in any way is yours. Nothing else changes for any other tenants, not right now at least, because HenchCo needs to continue putting up a normal facade, at least for the immediate future."

As Jack struggled to understand just how such a monumental security breach had happened to their systems, systems that had been designed to be totally secure, the voice paused for a second, and Jack wondered what was coming next.

"Now... we've had to take steps to eliminate some of the biggest threats to our plans already - ones that you tried to and failed - but our plans are still going to need soldiers... and that's partially where you come in. Your Henches will be a vital resource, but since we don't expect what comes next to be easy, you'll need to equip them appropriately, and to do that, you'll shortly be receiving a shipment of some of the ruined weaponry Global Justice identified in the Lowardian salvage to reverse engineer. We need to even the playing field, and HenchCo has always been the best at developing just the sort of thing we need."

"Why not just contract it out to me?" Jack muttered.

"Because this is only Phase 2. Bringing you on board fully makes you part of the team, makes it impossible for you to back out, makes you less of a threat to all of us. As I said, you'll be getting a shipment, but to help out your scientists, a batch of researchers from the Middleton Space Center headed your way. They've been mind control chipped, so they'll be easy to handle, and they'll report to you and anyone you designate as a leader."

Jack had gotten stuck on the phrase 'ones that you tried to and failed', and wondered whether these people had somehow managed to kill Shego and Kim Possible, but he was distracted by the fact that some of the stolen salvage was about to be returned to him - or at least, a small part of it - and then the words ' _mind control chip_ ' floored him.

 _Was that it? Had the Henches he'd sent to infiltrate Global Justices' storehouse themselves been mind controlled, and falsely reported success? Was that how the Lowardian salvage had slipped through his grasp?_

 _How many layers deep did this go?_

"Jack?"

"Sorry, what?"

"I said, are you ready to become part of something bigger?"

"Yes," Jack said slowly. "I guess I am... uhh, what do I call you?"

The man just laughed. "You don't get my name yet, Jack. Prove your worth, and then maybe you might graduate to being a Senior member, and I might introduce myself personally. We'll be in touch when you need to know your next steps. For now, just be satisfied that you're alive... and part of the Cabal…"

* * *

 **A/N:** Well then! The last big twist (or is it?!) for this story. There's just a wrap-up/epilogue to come, and this story is finished. Stay tuned!


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's Note** : OH SNAP he posted the last chapter already! For those of you who saw the earlier end-of-chapter message, apologies for any angst it caused - I just really wasn't sure if I'd be able to get this out in time. It turns out, my "avoid packing" technique involves writing.

 **Standard Disclaimer:** The various characters from the Kim Possible series are all owned by Disney. All registered trade names property of their respective owners. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

* * *

 **Kim Possible: Shadow Plays**

 **Chapter Sixteen**

 **KP KP KP**

In the end, it took Kim and Shego nearly a week to get back to Sydney.

After getting Betty to the ER at the University of Colorado Hospital in Denver for emergency surgery to remove the bullet and clean up Shego's very rushed cauterization attempt, they stayed nearby, sleeping in the jet for two days, and were glad they had when a bunch of police and FBI agents showed up with a warrant for the arrest of a Jane Doe in Ward 6, backed up by a group of men in suits that Shego recognized as Cerberus operatives. They'd pulled everyone out in a hurry, with Betty still strapped to a gurney and Joe holding her IV line as they raced up the ramp into the jet.

Whoever was behind the explosion in the old NORAD base was clearly being thorough. They'd probably discovered that a one-eyed woman in her mid forties had been admitted to a hospital in the area near Cheyenne Mountain, and sent a cleanup crew to take care of the possible loose end. Shego and Kim had been careful to stay completely hidden and let Joe be the person to deal with the doctors, so they were fairly confident their mysterious opponent couldn't be certain they'd escaped, but they knew he'd assume it anyway. The doubt might work in their favor - as long as they didn't openly advertise their presence anywhere.

Joe ended up providing them a solution to the problem of a safe place to let Betty recover - Canadian Intelligence maintained several off-the-record hospital suites at a number of private hospitals in various cities north of the border, and he offered one for their use. After swinging by Baltimore, where they picked up an awake but still very sore Will Du (who was shocked to find his superior suffering a similar wound to his own) they had transported the two patients to Vancouver, where Joe and his team promised to watch over and protect them from any further threats.

"I owe her, she owes me, it's all a big circle of favors and trust," Joe had told Shego when she'd asked why he was helping.

"Well… thanks," she'd muttered. "Glad Betty's got someone looking after her."

Kim and Shego had stuck around to scope out the area and help Wade set up some remote sensors that he could feed to Joe and then finally, somewhat reluctantly on Kim's part, they prepared to depart when Shego made it clear they needed to get moving again.

"I'm going to take Kim back to Sydney," she told Joe. "Both of us have been on the go for almost two weeks straight, and we need time to recuperate and plan our next move, but first we're going to take a quick pass at Nashville, and HenchCo HQ."

"I understand. Safe travels. Oh, and Shego?"

"Yeah?"

"When you make your move, if you need my help, you'll get it. No strings attached."

He'd held out his hand and she'd shaken it, two days later she was still bemused by the easy friendship the Canadian secret agent had struck up with her. Professional respect, she supposed. They'd faced off as enemies once, back in the day when Drakken had wanted Canada, and they'd been in a rough situation side by side as allies in Colorado. That tended to leave an impression - comradeship under fire.

"What are you thinking about?" Kim asked, noting the thoughtful look on her face.

"Oh, just amused at the odd friends I somehow seem to be making while I'm travelling with you," Shego replied. "Hey… listen. I told Joe that we need time off to collect ourselves, slow down, and think through our next move. I'm worried that we - you mostly - might burn out if we're not careful."

Kim snorted. "You're the one who's _still_ tired from the tunnel at Cheyenne Mountain, but wouldn't let me do anything in Nashville," she pointed out. "If either of the two of us is going to exhaust themselves, it's you. Plus I don't think you slept the whole time we were in Denver, it's like you knew someone was going to show up eventually."

"Call it a gut feeling - it's what I would have done, sweeping local hospitals for us. If Betty hadn't been so critical that we needed to get her there ASAP, I would have gone further afield. Phoenix, maybe, or even LA."

Kim nodded. "Well, they're hopefully safe now, with Joe watching them in Vancouver… and I agree with you. We need the downtime. I've felt on the edge for the last few days since… since nearly being buried alive..."

"Yeah, that sucked a bit."

Kim laughed. "You have a talent for understatement."

"And after Nashville was a bust.." Shego frowned. By the time they'd reached Nashville, the former HQ of HenchCo was a ghost building. Other than the name on the outside, there was no sign that "Teflon" Jack Hench had ever run his quasi legitimate business from the office tower. Convinced that he'd left booby traps everywhere, Shego had taken no chances and gone in alone, on the assumption that her extra durability would help her survive any potentially deadly traps, but all that she'd received for her trouble was a tension headache from being on edge for so long and a yellow post it note stuck to a temporary desk in Jack's old office with the words "Better Luck Next Time!" handwritten on it.

They would probably never find out if it had been written specifically for her, but it made her blood boil nonetheless.

Kim reached over and patted her on the shoulder. "We'll find him," she promised. "We'll find him and we'll find whoever has the Lowardian tech, and we'll make sure they get what's coming to them."

"Yeah.. Yeah we will," Shego said.

After they landed in Sydney, following a tiring flight that was broken only by a brief refueling stop at a private airfield on Maui - a location both of them agreed would be beautiful to stay at for a month or two - Shego powered the jet down fully and checked to make sure the security systems were fully engaged, then turned to Kim.

"Let's get outta here, I love her, but I feel like I've spent way too much time in this seat lately."

Kim nodded, smiling, as she followed Shego down the ramp and out toward the small office tucked in the corner of the hangar. "What is it?" she asked, frowning, when she felt Shego stop beside her.

"Just suddenly got this strange feeling, like I'll never see her again," she said, glancing back at the black and green craft.

Kim shook her head. "Shake it off," she said. "You said we were going shopping."

Shego forced a smile, and finished with her paperwork quickly. "That's right, I did, didn't I? Let's go spend some of Seniors hard earned cash."

Kim smiled back and grabbed her hand as they left the hangar. Shego noticed that she didn't let go until they had to separate to climb into the car, and that sudden loss of contact sent a surge through her that she would - with any other person - have known exactly how to interpret.

 _Oh hell_. _Don't overthink this, damnit_.

The drive from the airport to the city was thankfully uneventful - apart from the looks that Kim was giving Shego - but nothing was said until she parked their car in the space reserved for the penthouse suite, and they climbed out.

"Jet lag is going to be a bitch if we let ourselves go to sleep now, so, shall we shop then find a place to eat?" Shego asked, not moving to retrieve her go bag from the boot of the car.

Kim nodded in reply and grabbed for her hand, and together the two of them set off to plunder the stores in downtown Sydney. They returned back to the hotel that afternoon, tired but satisfied with their respective hauls, having spent the last hour in a coffee shop with their purchases sitting around them, talking about everything _except_ what had happened in the last few weeks. Favorite TV shows, favorite movies, favorite books, favorite music had been the starting point. The usually reserved Shego had been surprised to find that the two shared fairly similar tastes in a lot of things - she supposed shouldn't really have been _that_ surprised, given the other similarities in their lives, though the age difference (and probably the influence of having older brothers) meant that Shego had a preference for early 80s martial arts movies, while Kim favored the mid nineties and early 2000s, and their music tastes similarly had a difference in preferred era, though the bands they did agree on had Shego grinning.

"I would have never figured you for a closet metal head, Princess," she'd snickered. Kim had shrugged.

"Sometimes, a good hard fast beat is what you need for a workout."

Both had realized the unintentional double entendre at the same time, and Shego burst into laughter at the growing blush on Kim's face.

"Nice one, Princess," she mocked, and Kim had just sighed.

Now, as they made their way back to the suite, bags full of clothing weighing them down, Kim's mind was buzzing pleasantly both from the triple shot choc mint latte she'd ordered, and spending several relaxing hours close to Shego, without any threats around them, and as the elevator took them up to the top floor, her eyes kept darting over to the older woman, who was doing her best to studiously ignore her.

When the doors opened and they stepped out into the small lobby before the door to the suite, Shego dropped her bags by the door and started digging into her pockets for the card key to open the room, but before she had it in her hands, Kim had grabbed one elbow and backed her into the wall.

"What the..?" Shego muttered.

"I just.. I wanted to say I had a really nice time just hanging out today," Kim said softly, then before she chickened out, she slipped in close and went up on her tiptoes to give Shego a kiss.

Like the last time, Shego took a second to respond, before her arms wrapped around Kim instinctively and she drew the her in tight, the kiss continuing as Kim let out a soft moan, the tremors in her body once again setting off an instinctive response in Shego's body.

 _Christ, she kisses like a succubus_ was all Shego had time to think, before the sound of a ringing phone interrupted the growing passion.

A phone that was ringing from inside the apartment.

"Yes?" a male voice answered, and both Shego and Kim were instantly alert, standing side by side, hands out, and ready to defend themselves.

"No sir," the voice continued, "No sign of them here, though it's definitely theirs. We've got definite proof that Shego has been here - we found one of her catsuits in the closet of the second bedroom… no sir, but there's definitely been a woman in the other bedroom.. yes sir, separate bedrooms."

The man laughed suddenly, and Kim felt her fists clench of their own accord. "No, it doesn't look like they're sleeping together, sir… no sir.. yes, we'll set up the demo charges and keep an eye on the suite for when they return. Yes sir, I understand." The phone call ended, and then the voice carried on a second later. "Alright boys, we're gonna grab the charges and set them under each bed, one in each closet - very funny, Walker - two in the living room and one behind the fridge. Make sure they're synced for simultaneous detonation, and then-"

Whatever he'd been about to say next was lost as the front door exploded inwards in a barrage of splinters and green fire as Shego smashed through it, Kim stepping through just behind her, activating the battlesuit under her regular clothes and scowling. The closest man to them had just enough time to shout "Shit, they're here!" before a precision plasma blast slagged the gun was holding and burnt his hand almost to the bone.

"Hi boys," Shego said in a low growl to the six men in nondescript suits who were gaping at her. "I really quite liked this suite, but now that your grubby hands have been all over it, I'm going to have to disinfect every single surface, and that'll be _after_ I remove the stains you're about to leave in it - and even then I'll probably _still_ end up losing my security deposit. I really _hate_ it when that happens, because I already hate dealing with real estate agents..."

As if unleashed by the implied threat of violence, all six men reached for their sidearms, and Shego burst into a blur of motion, darting forward to grab the closest man, twisting his hand as she looped around and under him and pulled his arm up behind his back, dislocating his shoulder, elbow, and wrist simultaneously and causing him to scream in agony and drop the gun.

Using him as a human shield, she pushed towards the next two closest men, while behind her Kim had closed with another man who had hesitated momentarily over which woman to aim at, and her speed meant she was on him before he could bring his gun to bear on her. She slammed her fist into the side of his jaw, knocking him out with a single enhanced punch, sending him face first to the floor, but she'd already moved on, diving forward and rolling across the floor behind the couch to avoid half a dozen rounds of gunfire that came her way from the last two suits.

As Shego slammed into the next closest two, who'd held their fire to avoid hitting their comrade, she lashed out with a foot at the one on the left, feeling the solid crunch of a knee being destroyed, then she slid to the other side and fired a ball of plasma into the pistol of the other, following it with a swipe of her claws that raked across his front, slicing downward through the shirt and his chest and instantly drawing blood. The screams of both men intermingled with the first man as she continued her slice down and then across the back of his leg, her claws severing his achilles tendon and sending him to the floor as the ruined leg collapsed under his weight.

Furious that her safe house for the last six months had been compromised, her brutal assault continued as she lashed out with her left hand this time at the suit she'd kicked, her strike to his nose breaking it and sending a spray of blood before she switched back to the slashed man, punching him once, twice, three times in the face before using the man she was still holding as balance to lash out with a powerful roundhouse that snapped his head to the side and knocked him into his companion, bouncing off that collision and collapsing to the ground.

She had only the briefest tingle of warning as her eye caught a red flash of a targeting laser, and she threw herself to the side, diving for cover as a high powered sniper rifle round zipped through where her head had just been, slamming into the far wall and surprising Kim long enough for one of her two opponents to get the drop on her and slug her with a punch.

"Sniper!" Shego screamed, and continued her roll until she came up with her back to a wall that covered her from the sniper's nest on the roof of the next building over.

Kim reacted in the same instant, getting in ultra close range with both suits, not letting the sniper get a clean shot at her, and she traded punches and kicks with them while Shego contemplated her options.

 _Fuck,_ Shego groaned. _I don't know if I can hit.._ another round from the sniper rifle slammed into the suite, this time taking one of the two remaining suits Kim was engaged with in the back, and he stiffened before he coughed up bright crimson arterial blood from his lungs.

Kim slumped to the ground, pulling the dying man with her. " _Kim!_ " Shego screamed.

"Busy!" Kim shouted back, lashing out with a foot into the kneecap of her last remaining attacker, which brought him crashing to the ground, howling, where she delivered a heel stomp to his face which silenced him. "I'm okay, I'm okay!" she cried, throwing the dead body off her and rolling quickly across the floor into cover, two more shots slamming into the ground behind her. She pressed her back up to the kitchen counter she was behind, and hoped to god it was thick enough to stop the large caliber rounds that were coming at them.

"Thank god," Shego groaned. "I thought..."

 _No, don't tell her what you thought. No time, damnit. Focus!_

 _"_ I caught sight of him," she called. "He's on the roof of the building across from us, but he's got a good spot, the ledge has him covered."

"Damn," Kim grunted, and then called back. "Don't suppose you have anything handy?"

"Left my Barrett 50 cal. at home, sorry," Shego shouted, as more rounds crunched into the suite but thankfully didn't penetrate. "Australian gun law is more than a _little_ bit tighter than back home, and besides, I didn't think I'd need anything more than these." She looked down at her hands, then back up at Kim.

"Okay, I distract him, and you fire the biggest ball you've got?" Kim asked.

"No!" Shego said. "I'm not risking you. Get out, Kimmie, go down the fire stairs and just... just go. I'll keep him pinned down as long as I can - there's gotta be a second team on the way."

"I'm _not_ leaving you!" Kim told her.

"God _damnit_ , Kim."

"No!" Kim yelled. "No, I am not leaving you here to die! There _has_ to be another way!"

In Shego's anger, she didn't notice the suit she'd clawed reach down to his side and draw the stun gun until he fired it, and then for the second time in less than a week, forty thousand volts seared through her, but this time, it didn't stop after half a second...

She screamed as the energy pulsed through her, the green flame burst forth uncontrolled from every part of her, the intense heat searing the wires and ending the current, but also burning away her clothes and instantly setting alight everything flammable in a five meter radius around her, including the floor, the couch, and the suits of three of the men.

"Shego!" Kim cried as Shego screamed in agony at the center of a green tornado of plasma that swirled angrily and flared with more and more intensity.

"Shego!" she called again, and then drew back in horror when the green skinned woman turned towards her and she caught sight of the eyes, usually a dark green, but now flared with green energy as bright as the day sun. A pair of bullets speared into the plasma, turning to nothing before even hitting the flesh underneath it, and the green demon suddenly growled, stepped out from the partially melted wall, took aim and _flew_ across the space between the two buildings, green plasma trailing from her hands like twin rocket exhausts, and when she slammed into the low brick wall around roof of the higher building she _exploded_ , the green blast more than bright enough to blind Kim temporarily.

She blinked her eyes, and as the afterimage faded from her retinas, she she was sure she'd seen another body being thrown like a rag doll flying across the rooftop away from them.

She looked over at Shego, who was on her knees, plasma still lit and incredibly bright.

"Shego!" she shouted across the gap between them, then shivered as those glowing green eyes turned to regard her with an inhuman _anger_ clear in them. She felt a surge of terror that the monster in green flame was about to charge back at _her_ , but then the eyes blinked twice, faded back to a more normal green, and her Shego was looking down at her hands, around at the rooftop she was on, then back up at Kim, forty meters away across the street.

Kim watched her mouth whisper _holy shit,_ then she kicked her hands higher and was flying - far more unsteadily, this time - back across the gap to slam unceremoniously into the far wall of the suite, where she collapsed, her plasma gone, as the fire alarm belatedly kicked in - though unfortunately, it seemed the searing heat from her initial ignition had melted the emergency sprinklers above them closed, as a sudden rain poured down around everywhere in the suite except for the circle around where three charred bodies lay.

"Oh… _god_.." Shego moaned, then her stomach emptied the lunch and afternoon tea snack that she'd shared less than an hour ago. Kim darted forward, scooping the long green-black hair out of the way, and held it as Shego retched several more times, until only bile was coming up. "Fuuuuck," she moaned, and Kim rubbed her back softly for a minute until the major implications of the situation set in for her.

"Can you get up?" she asked softly, and after a moment Shego nodded slowly, allowing Kim to slip under her arm and help her unsteadily to her feet and into the kitchen, where she poured a glass of water. "We need to get you some clothes from the bedroom, and then we need to grab the important stuff and go," she whispered. "This place is compromised. If they were from our unknown friend, he knows we were here now, and I'll bet he'll have more people on the way when these guys don't report in."

Shego nodded dumbly, stumbling into her room, as Kim raced to her own, grabbing the small collection of clothes and stuffing them into the bag she had handy, ignoring the water pouring down around them, before returning to the lounge and throwing the bag at the door. She ran into Shego's room and found her robotically putting clothes into her green and black suitcase.

"C'mon, we gotta hurry!" Kim said, and grabbed the remaining handful, stuffing it into the case. "Anything else here you especially want to keep?"

Shego shook her head, then as if realizing only at that moment that she was still naked, grabbed the catsuit that was still hanging in the closet, and slid into it gingerly.

Kim looked at her, then spun her around to help with the zip and velcro flap at the back of the neck, before giving the still somewhat stunned woman a quick hug and grabbing the suitcase with one hand, and Shego with her other.

"Let's go, let's go!" she said, tugging Shego along behind her. She scooped her bag up with one arm and slung it over her back, grabbed a few of the bags they'd left dumped in the entrance hall, and shot Shego a tight smile as the green woman grabbed the others and her suitcase.

Kim pushed open the fire door and the two of them started down the stairwell. They made it down a couple of flights before Kim noticed that none of the other floors appeared the be evacuating, and she could only vaguely hear the alarm above them.

"They must have cut the alarms to the penthouse off from the rest of the building," she said, and Shego grunted noncommittally in reply. "That's not a good thing - I wonder if the fire will be contained by the sprinklers?"

By the time they made it to the parking levels and opened the stairwell door, Shego was slowly coming back to her normal self, and she had recovered enough to pull the keys to the car from her bags and open the boot for Kim to throw their gear in on top of their still packed go backs. The two of them climbed in, Shego taking the wheel, backing out gingerly then rapidly winding her way through the parking structure, pausing only long enough for the boom gate to open before pulling out into the late afternoon traffic.

"Where..?" Kim vaguely asked as they crossed the massive steel structure of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, looking out over the famous Opera House and the rest of Darling Harbour.

"North," Shego said softly, her throat still sore from the vomiting spell. "North, all the way. To the reef. Need that vacation.."

"Yeah," Kim replied. "Yeah. Good idea." She reached across, gently squeezed the hand on the gear stick, and smiled at Shego. "Vacation."

 **KP KP KP**

Twelve hours later, after an almost inhuman driving effort from Shego, they reached the twin cities of Maryborough and Hervey Bay. After a brief road-side rest stop, where Shego slept for about six hours to regain her stamina while Kim kept watch, they set off North again.

They hadn't talked about the fight at the hotel at all - Kim had dropped into an exhausted semi-sleep a few hours north of Sydney despite her attempts to stay awake and provide at least some kind of companionship, even if, by mutual agreement, it was a completely silent one, with both of them tried to process individually what had happened.

Now, though, it felt like it was building into a critical mass of silence that was about to explode, and Kim figured it was better to let the steam off slowly.

"So.. flying..? That's a new trick you picked up," she said softly, only barely audible over the sound of the wind through the windows, the engine and the road.

"I, uh.. I'm not entirely sure how I did that," Shego admitted eventually. "I've only got flashes of the last moments there. I remember feeling the taser, screaming from the pain, and suddenly there's this massive rush of…" She trailed off, then shrugged, unable to find the right words.

"Everything was green," she continued eventually. "I do mean literally, it was like someone had shoved one of those green 3D lenses down over each eye - then I blinked and I was in midair flying towards that asshole with the sniper rifle on the roof. The next thing I know I'm kneeling in a foot deep crater of cooling concrete and twisted metal, the sniper is nowhere to be seen, I'm realizing that I'm forty meters away from you on the _other side of the street_ and I have no clue how I got there."

Kim nodded. "It was… impressive. And also a little scary. Your eyes, they did the whole glowy bright green thing," she said. "For a second before you flew, and then again when you were over there, I called your name, and you looked at me and it was _not_ a happy look."

Shego shuddered. "I was angry, I think. And… I'm not quite sure of the right word.. _hungry_?"

Kim blinked. "Hungry?"

"Yeah, hungry, but not for food… for fighting, I think. There was something in me that wanted.. wanted to claw it's way out and just… _destroy._ It was looking at you like an opponent, or a competitor or something... then it was gone, and I was looking back at you, and I figured if I had done it once, I could do it again, and, well, you saw how well _that_ worked - or rather, didn't." She shuddered. "And before you ask, no, I really don't want to try it again because I looked down while I was doing it, it was _not_ a clever idea at all."

"So... you're gonna tell me that the spewing was just vertigo?" Kim asked, curious.

"Oh no... that was definitely the smell of burnt flesh and.. and realizing I'd left dead bodies."

"Oh. Yeah. I uh.. I kinda blocked them out. Somehow. I guess... I mean... you had to."

They lapsed into another uneasy silence for a few kilometers before Shego opened up again.

"Look… I know… I've tried not to.. you know, kill anyone bef.."

"You keep going down that line of thought, and you're going to get the exact same speech you gave me," Kim interrupted. "And it'd be hypocritical of me to think any less of you, since you clearly haven't thought any less of me after Middleton.."

Shego kept her eyes staring ahead on the road, but a ghost of a smile slowly turned up her lips.

"Thanks, Kimmie. I.. I appreciate that. More than you can know."

"Oh, I dunno," Kim replied. "I'm pretty appreciative of everything you've done for me - I think I said thanks for saving my life today, haven't I?"

"Shall we just agree to let the thanks go unspoken from now on? You know, if we're going to be making the whole saving each other thing a regular occurrence?"

"Somehow I don't think that'll work," Kim replied. "Pretty sure you're still gonna want credit for pulling my ass out of the fire."

Shego turned to look at Kim with a rueful grin. "True. Though depends on exactly how on fire your ass is at the time, I suppose."

Kim smiled at her, then after a second nodded toward the front of the car with her head. "Hey, eyes on the road."

Shego's grin morphed into a wide smile, and she focused on the road ahead of them again.

 _Things are.. I guess, sort of okay_ , she thought to herself.

Sure, Jack had pulled a fast one and disappeared, Betty and Will were still in hospital in Canada recovering from their injuries under Joe's watchful eye, and the Senior clan were.. well, they'd vanished to somewhere or other, but they were at least safe, and on their side - she hoped - and there was the matter of the Lowardian salvage that was still missing, and the unknown person who was clearly out to kill them, but...

For all of the bad, having Kim in the car beside her, the stuff they'd salvaged from the hotel suite in the boot, the wind coming through the window ruffling her hair wildly and the highway taking them north to the Great Barrier Reef, Shego allowed herself to relax for the first time in a while.

She regretted it almost instantly.

She just caught the faint glow from the rocket engine on the missile coming at them out of the corner of her eye with barely enough time to throw the wheel of the car hard over and start pumping as much plasma out her side of the car as she could generate in half a second, hoping like hell her aim was good.

"Wha.."

Kim's question was drowned out by the explosion of the missile as it entered the still forming plasma cloud. The force of the detonation picked the car up and tossed it like a toy, sending it rolling several times in the air before crashing to the ground, luckily landing right-side up, skidding to a stop.

Shego came to slowly, dazed from where her forehead had slammed against the steering wheel, and she moaned as a bolt of pain shot through her from her right side. When she looked over, she realized her shoulder had been dislocated and the arm was hanging limply. After struggling to get her seat belt off for a second, she gave up and summoned plasma from her good hand, gasping at how weak the green glow was, but it proved to be enough to part the belt and free her. She crawled through the window when the door failed to open, and found herself lying on the ground screaming in pain after trying to put her weight down on what was clearly a very broken left leg.

The pain was almost too much for her nervous system to handle, and her vision became a dark tunnel for a second. Only the thought of Kim managed to keep her awake, and after a few rasping breaths, she struggled to drag herself back partially upright, then turned and rammed her shoulder against the side of the car, feeling a disgusting grating followed by a hollow _pop_ as the shoulder popped back into its socket, a fresh agonising bolt of pain shooting through her side in response. "Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck" she screamed.

 _Gotta… find… Kim_ … she thought unsteadily a few moments later, pulling herself upright, and looking into the car, seeing no sign of her, but noticing that the windshield had been smashed - _outwards_ , she realised with a nauseous ball forming in her stomach at the implication.

"KIM!" she screamed.

A faint groan floated back to her, through the ringing in her ears, from further up the road, and Shego blinked in surprise as Kim slowly sat up from where she had been lying on the verge, and she was beyond thankful that she'd insisted Kim keep her battlesuit on underneath her street clothes. The black suit looked torn and scratched, and though it seemed to have activated quickly enough to protect her from catastrophic injury, she guessed Kim was stunned from the impact of hitting the roadside sign post that had folded around her head.

Shego took a desperate half step towards her, forgetting for a moment her broken leg, and she went down screaming again, as the ringing in her ears finally cleared enough for the sound of the helicopter hovering over them to finally penetrate. As she rolled onto her back and looked up, a pair of soldiers in black body armor descended from the helicopter, their guns trained in her direction, but rather than drop on her, they landed on either side of Kim. One bent to pick the unresisting form up into his arms, and suddenly they were lifted back into the sky again.

"NO!" Shego screamed, but she couldn't force herself up anymore, all her strength was gone and and her vision was fading to black again. She only had breath for one final scream. "KIMMIE! NOOOOO!"

 **KP KP KP**

In a dark cavern half the world away a pair of eyes that were normally hazel but were now flaring a bright blue behind the closed lids suddenly snapped open, pouring blue-white light out into the cave.

"Stoppable-san?" a confused man's voice asked.

There was no response for a moment, then a newer blinding flare of brilliant blue light suddenly lit the cave, revealing a beautiful grotto with crystalline stalagmites and stalactites, each outcropping reflecting the new light in a thousand different directions, turning the entire cavern blue with rippling light that flickered and danced.

The source of the new light was a sword which had appeared from out of nowhere, and as it settled slowly into an open hand, blue flames ran joyfully up the sword like waves unleashed from the simple hilt.

"Ron-kun?" a soft, feminine voice asked, then without warning there was a thunderous roaring sound that was vaguely like the cry of a thousand monkeys, and then man holding the sword uttered a single word.

"Kim."

Then he promptly disappeared in another burst of the blinding blue light, and the cave fell back into darkness.

 **The End**

 **KP KP KP**

* * *

 **A/N:** The end! THE END!? Only of _this_ part of the story, don't worry. Coming soon,  Kim Possible: Shadow Wars will be the continuation of this story, and part two of a planned trilogy that will conclude in an as yet unnamed third story (that I'm currently working on under the daft draft title of 'Return of the Jedi' because i'm a total dork).

To be totally honest I've had most this last chapter, aside from a few things that required review and minor adjustment due to earlier changes in plot points, ready from almost day one, and the surge of inspiration I got today was more than enough to finish polishing it off and publish. This sequence with the battle in the hotel and the drive north was originally much earlier in the book and in that draft it sort of set Kim and Shego off on their journey, but I feel like it works so much better here as a (horrible!) cliffhanger, and the last teaser scene sets a big ol' hook for a couple of cast members who - yes, I can confirm _will_ be joining us in Book Two - though they'll all be bringing their own issues with Kim and/or Shego, which will make things even more interesting.

As I mentioned, I'm away for the next month on a holiday to Europe, and I'll probably need 2-3 months to get far enough through Shadow Wars that I feel comfortable starting to post it up, but in the meantime, I look forward to reading your comments and reviews when I get back. :)

-Celendil


End file.
